Katrina Avery

“	I'm tired of dealing with this bullshit. I just want him gone. Dead. Out of our lives. And I will do anything it will take to make that happen. Even if I have to risk my very own life in the process.	”
–-Katrina speaking to Elrond about Vhane.

Katrina
Origin	Ardougne
Race	Human
Age	28
Gender	Female
Occupation	Former Guildmaster of the Academy/Sanctum of Heroes
Religion	Godless
Alignment	Neutral Good
Status	Alive

Katrina is a 28 year old woman who is originally from Ardougne and is roleplayed by Xee. Katrina once held the Guildmaster position at the now destoryed Sanctum of Heroes. Currently, she peacefully resides at her Taverely home along with her husband, Faramel, and her daughter.

Appearance

Katrina Avery stands at a strong 5 feet and 10 inches. She weighs roughly around 145, built mostly on muscle. She has a warm skintone and is rather soft to the touch. Her cheeks always had a small hint of red to them, which can be easily mistaken for blushing to those who don’t know her. Katrina’s hair is naturally straight that runs down to her shoulders and bangs in the front that hangs down above her eyebrows. She wears a dark gray shirt and green pants with a red, ragged cloth. Her belt is a dark brown with small pouches lining the sides and her boots is a lighter tone of brown that went up just below her shins with a tight fit. She wore cyrstal gray bracers that covered her wrists up to two inches below her elbow with brown fingerless gloves covering her hands. The only jewelry Katrina wore was two necklaces and rings. One of the necklaces consisted of silver chain with a pendant of multiple charms. The charms were of the Academy of Heroes symbol, the Da'Angelo and Delen House, and a few basic symbols of the things Katrina has done with her brothers. The second necklace was silver with small ruby and onyx gems. The two rings she wore went onto her right hand on the index and ring finger. One of them had silver edging an ocean blue running in the middle and the other was a silver ring with a very small diamond. 

Relations

Family

• Logan Avery - Logan is Katrina’s biological father, who is unfortunately deceased. He wasn’t the best father in Gielinor but Katrina still looked up to him.  

• Ava Avery - Ava is Katrina’s biological mother, who she viewed as a role model and best friend during her early childhood. Katrina often thinks about her mother from what she can remember of her.  

• Elrond Cadarn - Elrond is Katrina’s foster father. Adopted when she was 8 years old, the two became very close from the beginning. Throughout the rest of her life, Elrond would become what she views as the best father in the entirety of Gielinor. Even though they both have gone through hell and back multiple times, their father-daughter relationship only grows stronger as time continues on.  
• Faramel Hyar - A long-time member of the Sanctum that Katrina grew closer to as the years drug on. Within the past couple of years, they've become the best of friends and unstoppable combat partners. It was only recently that the pair realized their attraction and love to each other, and, thus, decided to take up marriage.
• Katherine Avery - Katherine is Katrina's lost twin, who is two minutes older than Katrina herself. After their long seperation, Katrina accepted her sister with open arms and grew an immeditate, strong bond to Katherine.
• Ariel Hyar-Avery - Ariel is Katrina's daughter, whom she had with Faramel.

• Leviat Delen - Leviat, despite having no blood relation at all to Katrina, is claimed as a brother. They both look after each other, ensuring the other is always safe.  

• Creta Da'Angelo - Creta is also another claimed brother with no blood relation. Creta is the big brother to Katrina, ensuring his little sister is always safe and out of harm’s way. He’s even willing to take on dangerous tasks in her place, even if he is unable to do so himself. 

• Connwaer Wallace-Avery - Connwaer is an adopted son to Katrina. Even though he’s a teenager, Katrina is the role model and mother figure that Connwaer often needs.

• Edwin Avery - Edwin was a young, werewolf child. She felt a connection to the boy when she found him and thus adopted him as her son.  

Other Relations

• Baldor Greyfur - He was Katrina’s superior, who now advises her in the Sanctum. She considers him as a great friend and would trust him with her life. 

• Ryo Cam - A very, very old friend of Katrina’s. She met him when she was a child and he’s helped her throughout her life with multiple things. He’s also one the few (other than family) who she truly trusts.

• Evgeni Avencianci - Katrina knew Evgeni ever since she joined the Sanctum. He’s helped her with several important issues. He is also a mentor and close friend to Katrina.

• Lavitz Slambert - A close friend to Katrina who she’ll protect with her life and he would do the same for her as well.

• Wade Pierce - Wade had healed several of Katrina’s wounds. She considers him as a friend from being under his care. 
• Holden Wallace - Holden is Katrina's ex-husband. However, she's still willing to consider him as a possible friend and help him out whenever needed.

• Signe Greyfur - Signe is Baldor’s daughter, who Katrina has watched grown up to a beautiful, young teenager. Katrina would do anything to protect her. 

• Drako Demonio - Another close friend to Katrina, who also was a mentor in her younger years. He taught her most of her knowledge in the medical field.  . 

Early Childhood

Logan and Ava Avery gave birth to Katrina in the year of 153 in the fifth age. Unlike other parents, they weren’t so caring of Katrina, especially her father. When she was first born, they treated her well, but the older she gotten, the more she was neglected. When she turned 6 years old, she started to resist of doing her chores, as she grew tired of being pushed around. This caused her to get beaten by her father. He would let her starve sometimes; it could be only for one meal, a whole day, or even several days. Her mother grew sorry for Katrina and started to stand up for her against Logan. However, the two women knew they stood no chance with Logan and begun to help each other as secretly as possible. If Katrina has gotten food from a neighbor or friend, she’ll share it with Ava when Logan isn’t around or vice versa. They’ll also do the same thing with chores when one isn’t feeling well or falling behind.

It was getting close to Katrina’s 8th birthday and Ava has caught a fatal disease. Katrina grew saddened by her mother’s crisis and constantly would mess up on her chores or simply not do them. This infuriated her father; his annoyance with Katrina grew so much, that he was sick of her and close to kicking her out. No one even knows why Logan felt this way to Katrina. Not even his wife knew. When Katrina returned from running errands one morning, Logan started to yell at Katrina for taking longer than expected. This scared her, causing her to drop the medicine that was for her mother, which was in a vial. It broke on impact and thus angering Logan farther. Katrina tried explaining it was the last vial the store had. He yelled profanities at her, finally telling her to leave and to never return home again.

Late Childhood

Katrina and Elrond during their younger years.

When Katrina was kicked from her home in Ardougne, she decided to head east. After several days of traveling, she arrived at the northern gates of Falador. A surprised look appeared on her face, seeing the beauty of the white city. She looks at the crowd in the square, noticing movement in and out of a building on her right; known as the Rising Sun. She grew curious as to why it was so popular. She entered the Rising Sun from the northern door, founding out it’s a bar. She looks at the people sitting at the counter, people of different ages, even races and species. She spots an elf out of the crowd at the counter. He looked friendly to her and she went up to grab his attention to strike a conversation. She found out his name was Elrond Cadarn, who would soon be a great friend of Katrina and eventually a father figure. 

Over the next few months, Katrina stayed in Falador, making friends every so often. She met yet another person, who would become a great friend of Katrina too. His name was Talis Firne. She met him in the Rising Sun as well, seeing him there almost every day. Over a course of a few years, Talis would introduce her to the melee skill. For a few days every week, he would give her lesson on how to use her chosen weapon in an effective manner and spar her to get practice. She started out with a dagger at age 9 and climbed up to the short sword within a year. By the age of 14, Katrina was practicing with a long sword, with Talis remaining as her mentor. 

Joining the Academy

The Academy of Heroes.

A couple years has passed for Katrina, with her being 16 now. She wanted to learn to how to be a doctor, but she didn’t know where to go. A small trip to Al Kharid one day has changed her life. She found a flier to the Academy of Heroes. She filled out her application found on the back of the flier and sent it in a few days early before visiting the place. She got accepted, of course, and found out a good friend of her's attended the Academy. Katrina was thrilled to learn that Elrond attended there. She also met the icyene named Eshebi Kash, the founder of the Academy, who would eventually become her melee teacher. 

A student, named Weiss, was a nuisance to Katrina from the first day. Rather she was studying or having a private conversation with someone, Weiss would try to strike a conversation with her, no caring if she had work to do or not. When Katrina and Elrond were having a conversation, Weiss came in and interrupted them. Randomly, Weiss ran out of the room and outside of the gates. They both followed, with William (Katrina's teacher) being in the courtyard, followed as well. Weiss then turned into a Lycan. He ran towards Katrina at full speed, then clawing her across the face and arms. Elrond and William then defended Weiss off until he turned back to his human form. With Katrina losing blood quickly, they took her to the medical room to fix her up as much as they can. Within a few weeks, Katrina had fully recovered.

Young Love and Betrayal

The Love Triangle 

Katrina has grown a crush on her teacher, William. Their relationship had grown more than just friends. With the no student-teacher relationship rule forbidden, William decided to leave the academy after a few weeks of the two being together, for other reasons as well. This was the same time Katrina was having hard times, thus making her relationship with William end, in other to regain herself and her own emotions. Within a matter of a few days, Syer Rzzar had told his love for Katrina to her. She secretly had an attraction to him, but she rarely shown it. Syer found out Katrina left William. He wasn’t happy with her decision so he started to avoid her. Katrina noticed this and grew tired of it, deciding to confront him. He decided this was a good time to figure out rather or not Katrina truly cared for him. This ended up with them making love to each other, with Syer somehow being drunk; he didn’t realize this till the next morning. He told her the possibilities of being pregnant would be high. With this in mind, Syer proposed to her. 

William, her ex-boyfriend, found out what happened. William still loved her, proposing to her and promised to take care of the baby when it arrives, if it was like his own. Katrina didn’t say yes or no, but rather she’ll think about it. She had to choose between Syer and William, which she both loved dearly. The decision for her wasn’t all that easy, but she decided to stay with Syer. Rather Katrina still wanted to keep the baby was unknown. She knows for a fact that she isn’t ready for it, but would hate to see Syer disappointed.

A week had gone by and a life threatening event happened to Katrina. A Cyclops attacked the Academy. The students and teachers, along with Karina, defended themselves before the beast blown itself up. The explosion causes burns all over her front body. Katrina fell into a temporary coma, until a healer was able to treat her burns from farther damage. Unfortunately, the baby Katrina had inside of her wouldn’t have survived after the explosion. While she was recovering, she wouldn’t have any idea rather it was alive or not. With this mystery, she finally came out with her decision. She didn’t want the baby, knowing she isn’t quite ready for it. This disappointed Syer, but she came to the conclusion that if he actually loved her, he would accept it and move on. 

Graduation and Marriage

Katrina was off getting prepared for her graduation and wedding. When she returned, she found a witch had thrown Elrond into pillars, injuring him. Ignoring what was happening with the witch, she ran to Elrond to take him to the medical room. She did all she could do to Elrond to help him and upon hearing a dragging sound out in the courtyard, she went to investigate it. She found the witch was dragging Syer and Denga Rzzar, Syer's brother and she teleported the two upon seeing Katrina. Katrina found out that the witch was the brother’s grandmother, Cameron Liana. She was taking them back to the Eastern Lands where they belong, in her mind.

Fortunately, while Katrina was busy helping Elrond, Ichigo and Talis managed to draw her own blood onto the sands. This made Andrew be able to scry the witch to find her location. The scrying lead them to Yanille, but within the process of teleporting, Andrew somehow didn't make it. Katrina, along with the others, began to search around the small city for anything suspicious. Katrina decided to look around the outskirts and upon seeing a ruined old building, she commorbed the others to go there immediately. Upon everyone's arrival, they entered to descend the stairs of the corrupted building.  

As soon as they reached the last step of the stairs, Cameron had already thrown the brothers into the portal to the Eastern Lands. She had said "Ta-ta" to them, before proceeding to step into the portal. Katrina was the first to dart out to push Cameron in, along with herself. As soon as Katrina entered the portal, it closed immediately. A few others had darted out to enter the portal as well, but ended up hitting the wall behind it. 

Cameron became instantly annoyed by the fact that Katrina came with her. She stood up to face Katrina and before the witch said anything, Katrina had asked her why she wanted to take Syer and Degna. The Witch had told her the realm they lived in was weak and powerless, unlike the Eastern Lands, everyone was more powerful. Cameron then told Katrina to speak her last words. "You took my love, my fiance. I knew before I even came here that I'll probably die, but at least I know that I tried saving him. I wouldn't be willing to give up on him so easily; I won't go down without a fight. I might seem like a young, weak little girl to you but I'm stronger than I look." "So you're really willing to come here, even if you knew that you might die?" Katrina nodded to her and she spoke in Eastern, "Awake" to Syer and Degna. They woke up and stood instantly. Cameron then gave them a decision; to stay in the Eastern Lands or go back to Gielinor. 

Syer instantly spoke, "You’re a crazy old woman to think that I'm leaving my fiancée." Cameron nodded, looking to Degna for his decision. He wanted to stay in the Eastern Lands to learn more magic and master them. The witch then started to charge a spell, causing both Syer and Katrina to glow brightly. Before they knew it, they were back at the Academy Gates and everyone was relieved to learn that everything would be alright.

In the few hours of letting Syer and Katrina rest, the wedding and graduation was being prepared. Everyone has taken their sits within the Auditorium, to await the first event of the evening, Graduation. Eshebi Kash, the grandmaster of the Academy, had asked Katrina a simple question, if she had felt like she had served the academy well. She nodded with a yes and Eshebi raised his hands up above him, causing Katrina to glow for a few seconds. He then grabbed her hand to raise it and everyone congratulated her. She then hurried off to get prepared for the second event, her wedding. 

Katrina stood outside of the Auditorium doors to wait to walk down the aisle. Elrond walked towards her and stood beside her in a very fatherly and proud stance. She looked up to him with a smile, happy that he was going to walk with her. He let out a few tears of joy before they walked down the aisle. When they reached up to Eshebi, who acted as the priest, Katrina stood in front of him, beside her future husband. Eshebi went through the normal wedding lines and when Katrina and Syer had kissed, Aranitus Aren had teleported in. He started to speak that Syer had told him he never loved Katrina. Syer  responded that it was a lie, to protect his new wife. Katrina was becoming confused, so she stepped out of the room. What Aranitus and Syer had spoken of, she didn't know. When Syer was alone in the courtyard, she went to talk to him and decided to talk about it in the morning. Katrina smiled as she suggested enjoying the rest of the evening and they did just that. 

The next morning when Katrina had returned from her morning walk, she found Syer and Aryl sparring. The spar was stopped from Syer collapsing from his injuries and exhaustion. Cameron had started speaking to him via telepathy, telling him he is weak and didn't deserve his father's amulet. The amulet disappeared when Syer was taken to the medical room. Within a few minutes, Syer had awoken and with an energy he couldn't control, he blasts a hole in the southern wall and ran away. This was the last time Katrina saw Syer. She was upset and all she can do now is just wait for his re-appearance that may never happen. 

A Second Chance

It was the day of Katrina's 17th birthday. It was also the day Syer re-appeared at the Academy. He had asked Katrina to talk privately and she cautiously followed him to the front of the gates. Syer then asked to go to his house and with Katrina hesitating, Kurai had approached saying if Katrina goes, she would too. Syer agreed, charging his magic to teleport all three of them to his house.

When they arrived, the house was a total mess. Blood stains on the walls, skulls in various rooms, disorganized belongings. The portal they went through to enter the house had shut off and along with that, the house was tele-blocked, giving Kurai and Katrina with no way of escaping. Syer collapsed in the study and an illusion of Cameron entered the room, making a barrier within the study and neighboring living room.

Cameron and Kurai began fighting each other with magic. When Cameron was down, she "dispelled" the barriers, only making them invisible. This both tricked Katrina and Kurai that it was down completely. With Kurai telling Katrina to run, she did so, only running into the barrier in the doorway. The invisible barrier sent shocks of electricity through Katrina, making her fall backwards onto the floor and her whole body became numb. 

The magic fight still continued, with Cameron regained slightly. The Cameron that Kurai was fighting was actually Angelica, who was disguising as her sister Cameron. The actual Cameron walked into the room, blasting Angelica into the barrier, causing her to disintegrate to ashes. Kurai was injured and Cameron had approached to heal her has much as she could. Cameron has also dispelled the tele-blocked within the house. She then faded off and Syer was released from Angelica's corruption and had awaken. Syer had teleported the girls to the front of the academy, taking Kurai to the medic room to allow her to recover. 

From the moment Katrina met Syer up to the latest event caused her to re-think how she felt about him. She was questioning herself, rather or not to trust him as she much as she did. She came to the conclusion that she shouldn’t, as she felt like all he’s been doing is causing havoc in her young life. She decided to wait until Syer came up to speak with her to tell him. The pain was visible on his face and he came up a poem on the spot to try to explain how much he truly loved her. Katrina decided to give him a second chance, even though he still wasn’t happy, he accepted it. 

Rebellion and Betrayal

A few days after Syer's reappearance, Cylus had suddenly gone missing, who was Katrina’s magic teacher. Elrond, Katrina, Syer, and a few others began to do an investigation. They first found a rather large hole in the wall of the Scriptorium. They've all came to be a conclusion that Cylus had to be thrown with violent force. That being their main clue, Syer began to make a list of possible suspects. After a while, Katrina noticed a small box on the table, labeled "My Things". It had a puzzle lock and they eventually figured out how to open it. Inside the box didn't give any leads, except for a half burnt piece of paper. It was the top of a resignation for the Academy with a few hand-written words. A man in dark robes had snuck into the Academy and took the box while everyone was off to spread their findings and calm the students. Cylus's sister, who was there the whole time, caught the thief in the process but the man managed to escape. Syer wasn't around at the time, until he came up the path in front of the Academy, which several people found suspicious. Cylus's sister told Syer what had happened and volunteered to catch him. Katrina offered as well and they both teleported away. 

They arrived in Taverley and Syer asked Katrina for a small talk. He told her that he killed Cylus and he was the man in the dark robes. Syer also had a plan to get away with the murder. He finished his plan by acting as a Mahjarrat, taking Cylus's body to the mountains and lured Cylus's sister there as well. People believed it was the "Mahjarrat" that killed Cylus and thus the case was closed. 

It wasn't but a day later that the smell of blood was around the Academy. Elrond and Katrina were the first ones to discover it. A trail of blood led to the Scriptorium, where Syer's body was pinned by four stakes into the wall. Katrina was upset by the horrific sight and left the Academy to have time to herself. When she approached Al Kharid, she saw Syer and found out that the body in the Scriptorium was only a decoy. He wanted to fake his death to get completely away with Cylus's murder. He told her he wanted the whole incident to be kept as a secret. 

Another day had passed after the event of Syer's fake death and he already had plans under way. He called Katrina to meet up with him in Al Kharid. Syer begun to explain that he was planning a Rebellion against the Academy to overthrow the Grandmaster, Aryl. Katrina knew the majority of the detail and felt like she needed to tell Elrond. She told him that evening and he knew exactly what he had to do; defend the Academy against Syer.

The day of the Invasion had arrived. While Katrina was with Syer, Elrond was busy gathering allies with the amount of the time he was given. When all the allies had arrived, there was over 30 men and women total. Syer only came out with a total of 6 men. He sent two of them to be a distraction at the front of the Academy's gates, while the others went into the desert to climb up a waterfall to enter a hidden cave. The tunnels of the cave went underneath the academy and came out at a cliff side. They climbed up that cliff side at the back side of the Academy. They scaled up it to enter the most Eastern-Southern hallway, near the master's dorms. Syer headed out to the balcony in front of the auditorium that peered over the courtyard. He went back to Katrina, while whispering into his commorb. He gave her a long glare before mentioning it would be a suicide mission. He confronted her about leaking the information. Syer threw his wedding ring at her face and then proceeded to throw a strong fire spell at her. Luckily, she managed to dive off to the side, the flames missing her main body. Unfortunately though, the flame got her legs, causing a third degree burns on both of them. A fellow rebel ran to her to aid her, while Syer escaped the Academy. Elrond ran towards the auditorium as he heard the commotion, soon asking Katrina what had happened. She explained everything to him and that he was in the process of escaping. Elrond demanded everyone to search the Academy, inside and out. Elrond took her to the medical room to bandage up her burns and begin her recovery.

Several months has gone by for Katrina, being finally healed of her burns through the methods of magical means. She recently began to see Syer again in Al Kharid. Every time she'll go to get supplies or a tasty kebab, she run into him. They both argued of their past, telling each other of their mistakes and flaws. Each time this happened, this caused Syer to heavily drink the same night. One of those days was different, however. He grew tired of arguing with her and he decided to leave Al Kharid for good. 

A few days went on and Katrina felt like she needed to apologize to Syer, despite what all he has done to her. She traveled to his house where she entered the large yard. When she heard a turning of a door knob, she darted behind a rock within the yard. Syer entered the yard, charging magic as he shut off the portal. The area began to storm, as Syer charged more magic to create a large sphere of water around him. Katrina only watched, knowing if she interfered, something horrible would happen. Syer whispered a spell in ancient tongue, the sphere freezing with him inside of it. As Katrina remained behind the large rock, she charged a spell and teleported away. She knew deep down inside there was nothing she could do to save Syer, or at least that's what she believed. 

A New Beginning

Upon a new grandmaster system within the Academy, Araitnus found it wasn't quite right for him after several weeks, thus giving the position to Katrina. She was thrilled to accept the offer but yet worried because of her age, being at 17 still, and the lack of experience compared to Elrond and Aryl. Despite her worry, she ignored it and did the best she could to be a good grandmaster.

This was the time when she met a man named Holden Wallace. Katrina was sitting alone in the courtyard, when Holden had collapsed near the gates. When she heard the thud, she ran over to his aid. He had heat exhaustion from being in the desert for so long without any water and Katrina helped him out as much she could. Within a few days, Holden was close to being fully recovered when he thanked Katrina and thus the pair began to know each other. 

For several months, the pair slowly grew an interest in each other but was always too scared to mention anything. They would constantly tease, play, or pick on one another. It was obvious to everyone else of how they felt, but oblivious to each other. One day Elrond confronted Katrina about her feelings of Holden.

“I-… I really like him, but I don’t know… I’m scared of being hurt again. Like-… Like what happened last time.” Katrina spoke nervously, her own eyes looking down at her feet.

“Katrina; I know it’s hard to trust someone in a serious relationship again. Only tell him when you feel like you are ready for that and not any sooner. This isn’t something you should rush.” Katrina smiled to him, taking his wise advice seriously. 

It was a week later that Katrina grew the confidence to tell Holden. When the pair was alone in the auditorium, she told him the simple words of, “I like you.” Nothing but silence came from Holden and this made Katrina scared that he didn’t feel the same. After more silence came from him, her head lowered and she turned her back to walk away.

“Katrina! Wait-…” Holden blurted out as he rushed after her. Her feet came to a halt, beginning to turn around. She felt his hands grasped gently around her shoulders to help her turn straighter to him. His mouth opened like he wanted to speak, but nothing came out. All he could do was stare at her worried eyes and he leaned in to give her a small peck on the lips.

From that moment on, over the course of several months, Holden’s and Katrina’s relationship

Katrina and Holden

only grew stronger. They’ve often went to Katrina’s favorite spot, that Talis has shown her, known as the Baxtorian Falls. After an argument that the two had, Katrina had went there to clear her mind. Holden knew this would be the only place to find her and went there to try to talk to her. “Katrina-… I’m sorry. I feel really bad, you know.” She looked up at him as she was leaning up against a tree.

A sigh escaped from her, “No, I should be sorry… I shouldn’t have gotten mad at you for not being around. I was being selfish…”

“I don’t think you were, but… Um… Can I tell you something?” Holden started to speak nervously and his hands dug deep into his pockets.

Katrina stood up to be able to be eye level with him and gave him a reassuring smile. “Of course… Anything.”  

“Alright, well… I love you more than anything in this world… I feel like I don’t deserve a beautiful woman like you sometimes… So-… Um…” Holden pulled out both of his hands, one of them had a small box in it. He slowly kneeled onto one knee and looked up at her. “Katrina Avery-… W-Will you… Marry me?” Holden shut his eyes tightly, almost expecting her to say no. Katrina stood in shock, her hands covering up her mouth, which soon revealed a large grin and she hugged him as tight as she can.

“Holden, of course I’ll marry you!” A grin was clearly visible on his face and he gently took one her hands to put the ring on her finger.

“I can’t wait to tell everyone.” Katrina smiled at him and the pair proceeded to head to the Academy to spread the news.

New Relationships

After the recent event with Holden (Under the title of “An Unexpected Twist”), who lied in order to attempt a failed assassination on his father, Katrina simply had enough of her husband. It was several months since Holden disappeared the same night he returned to the Sanctum to take care of unfinished business. Ever since, Katrina has not seen nor heard of Holden. She was growing frustrated, depressed, and lonely from the overly extended absences of her lover over the last couple of years. Once she decided to consultant with a few close friends and family, Katrina finally made the ultimate decision. She was going to divorce Holden and open her heart up once again for someone else. 

Several weeks went by and Katrina noticed that someone had a keen eye on her. The man’s name was Niko, who was an elf who recently join the Sanctum. The two then begin to spend some time with each other and Katrina grew to care a little bit for Niko. However, several members warned Katrina about Niko, describing him a pedophile, player and various other titles. Katrina found it hard to believe the rumors at first but she did decide to investigate.

It was on a cool afternoon when Niko and Katrina took a trip to Baxtorian Falls. Katrina chose the spot of a small peninsula extending out to the lake. She was sitting towards the tall waterfall that loomed over the couple and her eyes were shut to let the roar of the water consume her. Katrina finds the location to be very relaxing, but her small moment away from the world was quickly interrupted by Niko’s voice. 

“Katrina, have I ever told you how beautiful you are?” Niko spoke with a calm and confident voice. 

“Many times.” She replied with a soft tone and a gentle smile. 

“You remind me so much of my daughter, you know? Your looks, your soft spoken voice, your personality, everything.” 

Katrina shifted a bit uncomfortably from Niko’s statement. Perhaps this is what people had warned her about. She was silent for a moment, before she decided to speak up to figure out rather or not this is the main reason why he’s hooking up with her. 

“Niko. Is that why you love me so much?” 

“Yes.” He simply replied with a smile. 

All Katrina could do is stare at him. In the back of her mind, the words her friends had told her about him were rushing through her. She knew, now, that it was true; he was into younger girls, much younger than Katrina and it was only reason why he was with her. After the moment of pondering, Katrina stood up. 

“I may just head back to the Sanctum.” She replied with a soft voice.

“Why not bring the Sanctum here? Have a party. It’ll be nice, wouldn’t it?” 

“I suppose so.” Katrina responded reluctantly. 

As the evening arrived, nearly most of the Sanctum members have arrived at Baxtorian Falls for the party Niko swiftly organized. A simple cook out with music played by the host, a variety of games was played, and then simple socializing upon everyone took place. Towards the end of the party, after Katrina, Niko, and a few others were played a game of truth and dare, Niko bids his goodnights to his friends and stood up to head inside of the house they were staying at. Once he left, Katrina heads inside as well to find her father, who surprisingly attended. 

It was then, that Katrina felt a flood of annoyance and anger rush through her. Niko was standing in the middle of the room flirting and kissing with a girl wearing only a bikini. It was Elrond who took notice of the happenings and marched directly over to Niko to begin confronting him of his actions.

Meanwhile, Katrina was standing beside Faramel, who is Katrina’s best friend. He looked at her with a smirk growing on his face as he went to hug onto her. Katrina welcomed the hug and returned it to Faramel, who was speaking sweetly and lovingly to Katrina in a loud enough voice for Niko to hear. Niko’s face grew a little red as he heard Faramel and promptly heads to the upstairs room of the house to catch his sleep. 

“Revenge is sweet.” Faramel spoke as he released the hug from Katrina, who was chuckling. 

“He deserved it.” She replied with a smile. 

“Hm. That he did. I have something to ask you though.” 

“Do you?” Katrina responded with a curious tone and Faramel smiles at her. Faramel turned to head outside with Katrina not far behind him. He took her to the fence line overlooking the large waterfall and lake below them. Katrina smiles, as she was always did when she sees the beauty of nature at its best. However, she felt her shoulders being grabbed onto and her body gently turning towards Faramel. Katrina looked up towards him and their eyes locked together in silence, except for the blissful background noise of rushing water.

“What is it you wanted to ask?” Katrina finally spoke after the long silence of the pair. While she was staring at him, she never realized how truly beautiful he was until this very moment.

“Hm. This.” Faramel lets go of her shoulders and he kneeled down onto one knee. Katrina’s eyes widen with shock as if she knew what he was about to ask. 

“Will y-you marry me?” His words came out shakily, showing his nervous emotions of the moment. Katrina can only find herself staring at Faramel in stunned silence. Is he serious, is this a joke? Katrina repeatedly asked and considered both questions. She wouldn’t mind if it was a joke to play on everyone else or rather it was serious, and to actually accept marriage. Faramel was her best friend, has been for years ever since they met, someone who she enjoyed their presence with the funny and loyal personality that Faramel held. It was then, that Katrina smiled while reaching out to grasp Faramel’s hands gently. 

“Yes. I’ll marry you.” A grin lit up on Faramel’s face and he stood up to hug onto Katrina. Then, directly after, he went to pick her up bridal-style. 

“We gotta tell Elrond! And everyone else!” He exclaimed as his voice went from its nervous tone to its natural, playful one, and Katrina lets out a chuckle. 

“Onwards then! To the Sanctum!” Katrina held out her hand as if pointing an imaginary sword in the direction of the Sanctum and the pair took off to spend their astonishing news.  

The Warth of Elendil and Vhane 

Elendil; A purely evil elf that once terrorized Katrina, Elrond, and anyone else who was closely related to the pair. Unfortunately, he was related. He was Elrond’s brother. Elendil made the decision his is early elf years to study in the dark magic. Everyone knew this kind of magic would corrupt an individual completely. Elrond tried to stop his brother from making contact with the magic but it was too late. When Elrond had found out about it, Elendil was already casting spells, reading books, and the like. This was the time when the brothers separated to go down their own path, only to be crossed again in the future.

Vhane was supposedly an apprentice to Elendil but it was quite clear his powers and strength was far greater than his master. Vhane’s main focus was on Katrina when he merged himself after Elendil’s passing. He saw great potential in the girl but her resistance against him was strong, causing him to go to great lengths to take her over. 

Elendil's Search

It was years, decades before Elendil stepped foot into the human region of Gielinor. He remained in the Elven lands as he studied and practiced his art of Dark Magic. Elendil’s tormet for Elrond started years back. He had framed his brother of murdering his best friend, causing Elrond to be exiled for life. Elendil was on the search for Elrond again, the urge to make him suffer was stronger than ever. His search had begun in the west and carried on east without any kind of leads; until he reached Falador. Elendil stared down at a young 15 year old girl that he bumped into outside of the white city's walls.

A smile sweep across his face as he spoke to her, “Hello there, little girl.” Katrina scowled a bit. She didn’t view herself as a little girl, but more like slight matured teenager.

“What do you want?” She spoke with a bit of annoyance.

Elendil seemed taken aback. “Oh. I’m sorry. Did I offend you? I truly do apologize. But a man like myself needs some… Assistance. Yes, assistance.”

“Assistance? With what?” Katrina asked.

“I’m looking for someone. He looks similar to me. He’s my brother, actually. I want to reunite with the lad. His name is Elrond. Elrond Clarisais.” Elendil crossed his arms as Katrina stared at him with a surprised look.

“Elrond? I know him… He took me in, he’s my father now. But I don’t know where he is.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know where he is? He’s your father!” Elendil shouted at her at the end.

Katrina begins to step back nervously from the sudden shout. “I just don’t! Ok? I hadn’t seen him in a week or two…”

“Worthless, pathetic child. No wonder he took you in. You’re too useless to take care of your own self.” Elendil shoved past her and Katrina gave him a glare. She actually knew where Elrond was, but by the looks and acts of Elendil, she felt like she shouldn’t have trusted him. After that incident with Elendil, Katrina ran directly home to spread the news to her father. 

“Katrina? Why are you in such a hurry?” Elrond asked questionly when Katrina ran into the house.

“Dad-… I saw a man today. He said you were his brother. He’s looking for you.” The cup filled with tea in Elrond’s hand dropped onto the ground, shattering to pieces.

Katrina continued, “I told him I hadn’t seen you in a while."

“You actually helped me out a bit. It gives me time to get out of here before he finds out my true location. C’mon, lets pack your things. We're going to my girlfriend's house to stay low for now.” Katrina and Elrond soon packed their belongings to make the journey to Leigh's house, Elrond's girlfriend. During their stay, weeks went by until things went back to normal. Elendil seemingly disappeared but Elrond’s worries still remained.

As months passed, Katrina made the transition to the Academy and already turned 16. It wasn’t long after was when Elrond has received a letter; stating that his father was murdered by Elendil. The letter was sent by his mother, who also stated that his brother knew of his current location from interrogation. Tears filled up Elrond’s eyes but anger was also present. Katrina came into the library where Elrond was and she spoke, “Hey Elrond, Someone ne-…”

“Not now. Tell them they have to wait.” Elrond interpreted her with a shaky voice.

“What’s wrong?”

“My damned brother! He murdered my father. If he ever has the guts to show his face up here, I swear I’m going-… I’m going to kill him!” Katrina stood silently for a few moments before she went up to simply hug her father. The pair embraced each other until Elrond calmed down.

“I want you to avoid him. Don’t talk to him, don’t do anything with him. Just run if you see him. He will try to take you from me… I just know it.”

Katrina nods at him. “I’ll do as you say, father.” She smiled softly at him and turned to walk away. She appeared to have simply agreed to her father's word but she’ll do anything she can to help him when the time comes; even if this means going against what he told her.

Two Forces Unite

It was several months before Elendil decided to make his first strike. It wasn’t on Elrond or Katrina directly but he taken a close friend to them both; Ichigo. However, Elendil was not alone. He had made friends with another antagonist named Legal. While Elendil was involved in Dark Magic, Legal was interested in a very common fear amongst people; Spiders. The Academy was thrown into a large mess and covered in cobwebs when the students and teachers awakened one morning. Upon investigating the Academy farther, a note was found in Elrond’s bedroom. The note contained the happenings to Ichigo and mentioned that she’s being held captive in a small shack in the swamps of Lumbridge. 

Katrina and Elrond met at the gates when they were both ready to go after their friend. “The Swamps is just west of town. It isn’t that far. Now, when we get there, just follow my orders and don’t do anything stupid. Is that clear?” Katrina remained silent but she did nod at him in response. She felt like he didn’t particularly trust her in this situation, although she is aiming to prove that she can handle herself just fine. Or at least that’s what she hopes. 

An hour of traveling has passed before the two grew near Ichigo’s location. The pair halted as they noticed that Elendil was standing outside of the shack, seeming like he’s awaiting their arrival. “Katrina, distract him while I try to break inside." Elrond lowered his arm to allow Katrina to approach Elendil.

“Well, well, well. Finally decided to come after your friend, eh? I can tell you she’s fine. For now.” The elf grinned at her and Katrina’s jaw clenched from the anger already building up inside her. The both of them got into a brawl, briefly before Katrina has sent Elendil into a tree from a strong air spell. Injured and discouraged, Elendil quickly got up to make his escape from the scene. Katrina wasn’t able to stop him as she was still recovering from the harsh blows she took beforehand. 

Meanwhile, Elrond went the northern side of the shack to approach the entrance. It took several attempts but he finally managed to break the door down. The moment the door even cracked, small brown spiders ran through and latched onto Elrond. Small stings were felt as the spiders bite onto Elrond. They’ve released a poison into his system, causing him to slowly lose feeling from his feet and spread up into his body. He eventually collapsed and his eyes stared at Legal who stood on the opposite wall with Ichigo hanging beside him. She was covered in cobwebs, much like a cocoon. “K-… Katrina!” Elrond managed to shout out loudly before he lost feeling from his body, becoming completely paralyzed. 

Katrina heard her name being shouted as she was still kneeling near the tree. She was determined to get Ichigo free and before she reached the doorway, her freehand pulled out a teleportation tablet. Katrina stumbled into the doorway but her eyes located Ichigo fairly quickly. She threw the tablet forcefully at her and it broke upon impact.

“You fool. Now I’ll have to use you two as my entertainment.” Legal said with a surprising but yet an annoyed tone when Ichigo was successfully teleported to another location. Katrina’s eyes widen a bit as the same brown spiders rushed at her to paralyze her body as well. Katrina could only watch as a larger spider stepped over to her and begins to use its silk to wrap her legs and hang her upside down from the ceiling and Elrond was given the same treatment afterwards. Legal tore open the back of Katrina’s armor top and begins to curve a spider design into her back. The poison she received was beginning to wear off and the pain was over-whelming. Blood and tears dripped onto the ground below her and all she could do was watch when Elrond was given a whip treatment to the back and arms.

“You’ve made Legal very satisfied. But why should I stop there?” Legal’s grin returned as he approached a cage in the corner that held multiple spiders. Katrina’s hand secretly reached into her pouch of tablets once she managed to get it loose. Luckily, Elrond was barely in arm’s length with Katrina and she stretched her hand out with the tablet to him. Katrina noticed Elrond has become unconscious from the wounds he received and her hand took a grasp onto him. As she did, her hand also crushed the tablet and before Legal realized it, they were both gone.

The pair had landed in front of the Al Kharid’s palace and with the remaining strength Katrina had, she called over the commorb’s channel to request for help. Multiple students had arrived to their location and rid them of the spider silk that wrapped them before carefully transporting them to the Academy’s medical room to be treated of their injuries. 

A couple days had passed before Elrond has spoken to his daughter. He grew very concern of her, as the event not only going to cause physical scars, but also a mental one. As both of them remained in the medical room during their recovery, Elrond finally decided to spoke out to her, “Katrina… I’m very sorry about what happened. I shouldn’t-… I shouldn’t have taken you.”

“Dad… If things hadn’t went the way they did, Ichigo probably wouldn’t have been saved. It could of, turned out worse I guess.” Katrina shifted her body carefully to be able to face her father before she continued speaking.

“Our suffering was a sacrifice for her to be safe. We accomplished what we went after. I think that’s something to be positive about, despite what we’ve been through.”

Elrond was taken aback from her response, as if he’s surprised to hear such words from a young girl’s mouth. “Katrina. I promise that when I get better, I’ll track Elendil down. I’m not going to put up with what he’s caused.” Katrina smiled softly as she trusts her father’s words and awaits the day that she hears the news of Elendil’s passing.

The End Is Only A New Beginning

Being 17 since the last incident, Katrina was going through her normal routine of training, attending lessons, spending time with Holden; until she noticed something was off. Her father, Elrond, wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Katrina grew a bit worried as he never leaves without letting her know. She decided to push the emotion away, as she was hopefully thinking that he simply went to town to retrieve supplies. It wasn’t until later that evening that she received a commorb call from Elrond. He requested her to visit him at his house; immediately. Upon arrival, Katrina noticed there was blood stains in the yard of Elrond’s home. She felt indifferent about the sight and entered the house regardless. Elrond sat in the living room with multiple bandages across his body. It was obvious he got into a nasty fight. 

Death of Elendil

“Elrond? What happened?” Katrina approached to sit in a chair beside him.

“Elendil came here after he killed the best friend from my childhood.” Elrond spoke with an exhausted voice and paused before continuing. “Vonya was her name, if you were wondering. I got revenge on him, Katrina. For not only what he did to Vonya but also what he’s done to the Academy and my family.”

Katrina was surprised that her father actually managed to kill Elendil by himself and she leaned closer to him to hug him gently. “So… We won’t ever see him again?”

“No, we won’t. He’s gone for good.” Elrond smiled reassuringly at Katrina and the pair celebrated for the rest of the evening. 

Little did the two know, a minion of Elendil’s was secretly working away to perfect his little tricks. Vhane served under Elendil while he was alive and now that Elendil is no longer alive, he sought to get revenge on Elrond and Katrina by making them suffer more so than Elendil had caused or maybe even seek for their death.  

Vhane's Control of Katrina

Elrond and Katrina have already moved on from the experiences they faced from Elendil and finally got back onto a regular routine. After a exact month of his death, Vhane decided it was the right time to arise. While Elrond was asleep, Vhane has kidnapped his wife and taken her to Karajma. Vhane had left a simple clue onto the night stand of Elrond’s. It was a note reading “See you there, friend” with a banana resting on top of it. The following morning, Elrond has discovered the clue and noticed his wife gone. He instantly called up Katrina on the commorb channel.

“Katrina! Leigh-… She’s gone! Someone’s taken her!” Elrond almost shouted through the channel.

Katrina cringed from the loud voice echoing. “Elrond… What happened? Who took her?”

“I don’t know… All I have is this note. And… A banana.” Katrina remained silent for a moment, “The only place that bananas come from is Karamja.”

Then it clicked. Elrond began gathering up his armor and weaponry before responding to Katrina. “Meet at the docks in Karamja. You know how to get there right?”

“Of course, I’ll see you there.” Katrina actually didn’t know where to go but luckily she had a map within her bedroom to reference. 

Elrond stood impatiently at the wooden docks of the large isolated consentient of the realm. Katrina was arriving via ship and before it could even anchor itself, she jumped off to land onto the docks. “Alright, I’m here finally."

“Follow me. I scouted the area and I think I spotted them. But I gotta tell you something.” Elrond then begins walking towards the south, with Karamja’s volcano barely in sight. He continued, “I got a glimpse of him. He looks a lot like Elendil… But different in so many ways.”

“Oh… I already hate this.” Katrina frowned slightly and the pair then silently walked towards the base of the volcano. 

“Aha! You fools finally arrived.” Vhane grinned as his arm was wrapped around Leigh’s chest firmly. “I won’t let her go. Unless, of course, we… make a deal.” Elrond, out of a fit of a rage already, charged up the steep volcano to try to get at Vhane. His attempt only failed, when Leigh was being used a shield causing him to stop in his tracks. “Ah, not so fast. You wouldn’t want to harm your love, do you? I mean, look at her. She’s so graceful… Pretty. It’ll be a shame if something were to happen to that beauty.”

Katrina made up the hill before speaking sternly. “What do you want from us? All we want is Leigh’s safety.”

“What do I want? Ohoho, there’s so many things that I’ll like to have. But the one that I want the most? That’s you, Katrina.” Nothing but silence was heard from anyone for a solid moment. Katrina was surprised by his words; they were ringing through her ears. She finally spoke out, albeit more nervously than before. “Why… Why do you want me for?”

Vhane grinned again, “There is so much potential in you, Katrina. See, I’ll like to take this realm one day and you would be the perfect acquaintance for that. Imagine all the gold, fame and glory you will receive under my control. You’ll live like a queen, my sweet girl.”

“No.” She simply spoke out.

Vhane was taken aback, being dramatic by placing his hand over his heart. “You hurt me, Katrina. I’m sad you wouldn’t take my offerings. But what about Leigh here? Do you not care for her one bit?”

“Alright. Fine. How about I just switch places with Leigh.” Elrond looked at Katrina wide-eyed and she looked at him with a reassuring face.

“I do like that. C’mere then.” Vhane violently pushed Leigh out towards Elrond and he caught her.

Katrina hesitated to walk up to Vhane. “Father… Take her back, I’ll be fine here. I promise.” As Katrina stepped up to Vhane, she drew out her dagger to try to stab at his chest. Elrond, trusting Katrina somewhat, began walking away from the scene. 

Vhane was quite too strong for Katrina, as his hand caught her wrist. “Now, now. No reason to be violent with the good man.” Katrina tried to tug her wrist from him and begins to feel a tingling sensation slowly crawl up her arm. It was a form of black smoke and it was making way up to her mouth.

“What are you?” Katrina said in a panicking tone as she stumbled away from him when finally freeing herself.

“I’m an elf. Don’t you see the pointy ears? I’m just like Elendil. But stronger.” He rushed at her; seemingly more like gliding, and tried take a strong and firm grasp of her. No matter what Katrina tried to do, Vhane would only try the same attempt with more violence and force. After much resistance, Vhane finally had a strong grip on her.

“Remember what I said earlier? All the gold, fame and glory you could receive? It’ll all come true in a due’s time Katrina… I make it a promise just for you. You’re very special to me, almost like a daughter, my dear.” With every word he spoke, black smoke escaped through his mouth and entered through her’s. The smoke had mind controlling power and eventually took over Katrina.

“Of course. Whatever it will take to get us that glory, we will execute. We will destroy anyone who crosses our path! No one will stop us!” Katrina has a sinister grin after she spoke. From that moment, Vhane saw it in her eyes. He knew he had successfully won her over and she was now his. He could sense the darkness running through her veins and her voice. Everything for him was beginning to come together according to plan.

“Katrina, my girl. How about we head off to our new little home, shall we?”

Katrina smiled at him delightedly. “Yes, of course. I shall follow your lead.”

Meanwhile, Elrond had taken a hiding spot in the jungle to keep a close eye on his daughter. He witnessed it all and he knew what he had to do. Vhane had left another clue where the couple once stood. As Elrond went to retrieve the note, it read “You shall find us in the coldest cave.” He shook his head lightly and walked off to make the journey home with his exhausted wife.  

After Elrond has taken care of his wife’s need, he head to the Academy to find Katrina’s fiancé, Holden. Something tells the elf that he’ll need a few students as well to try to free Katrina from Vhane’s grasp. As he arrived, Elrond saw the man he wanted to speak too at the fountain. “Holden!” Elrond shouted and Holden turned to look at him. “Elrond, have you seen Katrina? It’s odd for her to not be around at this time of day.” 

“Actually… That’s why I’m here. She’s been taken by one of Elendil’s hitch men. He has full control of her… We need to save her before it’s too late.”

Holden sighed with a shake of his head. “Alright… You go get some rest. I’ll get some students to help us out. She will be alright though… Right?” He stared at Elrond a bit concerned and Elrond only nodded before heading off to get some much needed rest. 

It wasn’t until a few hours later a small group was formed and set off to find Katrina. They’ve eventually figured out the location was south of Port Sarim in a once pirate infested cave with the back of it completely frozen. As they entered the cave, the aura of darkness filled the air. One could feel chills run down their spines; not only from the chilly air but also what’s occupies the area. When they ventured further into the cave, they ran into Katrina and Vhane. It was obvious she isn’t the happy, cheery girl she normally is. She took on the opposite appearance, appearing evil and dark all around. Holden and Elrond were the first to enter.

Katrina smiled at them wickedly. “Ah! My favorite men have finally arrived. What brings you here, hm?”

“We’ve came to get you.” Holden spoke out as he stepped forward.

“Oh? What if I didn’t want you to come get me? I’m happy here; Happier without you. I never realized how pathetic of a man you are.” With every word Katrina said, she stepped forward and eventually ripped off the engagement she was wearing. “After I’m done with you here, I never want to see you again.” She shoved the ring upon his chest, forcing him to take it.

However, Holden wasn’t fazed all that much, or rather, he didn’t show it. “No. You’re coming with me, even if I have to force you.” Katrina scowled when he spoke up, already beginning to get annoyed. The pair broke out into a fight that lasted for quite a while. Holden managed to win the fight by slamming his sword against the side of her temple to render her unconscious. 

During the fight between the couple, Vhane was taking care of the rest of the group.  Elrond and a few students had to fend off Vhane and a guard he has summoned. As the fight broke out, Vhane had lost the majority of his control over Katrina by the time she was unconscious. Even though Vhane stepped away from the small battle, his guard remained fighting. The guard was eventually defeated. Luckily, only a few injuries were received. The group, along with the unconscious Katrina, retreated from the cave and gathered at the entrance. One of the students performed a teleportation spell to send them to Al Kharid.

Katrina was found lying on a bed within the medical room with a few injuries the night of the incident. Holden had fallen sleep in a chair beside her bed and she just stared at him after awakening herself. Her hand eventually shifted over to grab onto his and held it lightly.

“Kat?” Holden said softly as he was awaken.

“Holden-… What happened?” Katrina whispered as she looked at him with concern.

“That man, took control of you… Elrond, a few students and myself went to save you… You are yourself, right?” Holden wanted to make sure it was actually her and that she wasn’t playing some trick on him.

“Of course it is… I can’t even remember what happened. All I know is that I saw the man at the volcano and then… Nothing.”

Holden smiled softly at her, reaching a hand over to gently brush some hair from her face. “You should get some rest. I’ll see you in the morning.” Katrina only nodded and returned back to her deep slumber. Little did Katrina know, Vhane still had some control over her mind. However, it was dormant and it was only a matter of time before Vhane strikes again.  

Katrina's Vengeance

Several months had past for Katrina and she heard or saw nothing of Vhane. She found it odd that he disappeared from his sudden presence; although she tried to not think about it too much. One night Katrina was in her bedroom asleep and Vhane felt the need to arise again. The control he had over her mind became active once more and he sent her into a nightmare that appears to be in reality.

It wasn’t long after Katrina’s eyes closed that the nightmare began. The setting began in Ardougne, which was Katrina’s hometown. However, everything was in black and white; no color seemed to be present at all. Katrina stood several feet from the entrance of her childhood home. Her eyes gazed upon the wooden door and it crept open automatically when she approached it. A few chills ran down her shine as she proceeded to enter the house. To the right of her laid a half burnt corpse that was previously known as her biological father. However, the corpse was colored with a bloody red and black char. A man’s voice echoed through the house as it whispered Katrina’s name. She quickly turned around to look around the room but found nothing. Something intrigued her to continue searching the house and she did so. Katrina ventured her way up the stairs to the master bedroom of the home. The first thing her eyes set on was her lifeless mother lying on the bed. Like her father, she was colored as well but with pale flesh and faded green on her clothing along with a trickle of blood that ran from her mouth down her cheek. The same man’s voice echoed through the room repeatedly and slowly got louder. All Katrina could do was stare at her poor mother and the voice shifted to seem like it was directly behind her. A pair of hands suddenly grabbed around her mouth and she struggled to get free.

“Shhh… Don’t struggle. I promise we’ll make this painless, dear.” Katrina’s eyes widen as she was thrown into a chair against the wall. “I know you loved your family and friends deeply. All of them have met their demise. You are the only one left; you must suffer the same fate.” The mysterious voice was soon recognized as Vhane’s. Eventually he grabbed Katrina’s head with violent force; only for a knife to be slowly dug across her neck.

Everything in the nightmare briefly went dark before Katrina jolted awake. Her breathing became rapid and a few beads of sweet ran down her temples. She felt her heart pound against her chest before it slowly calmed and she lets herself fall against the bed again. A note was lying on her nightstand and she eventually noticed it. It read; “Enjoy your dream?” It was signed by no other but Vhane. Katrina shook her head and tried to fall back to sleep.

The next morning arrived after a rough night of sleep, as multiple nightmares had occurred. All of them were similar to the first dream, but featured different people who were important to her in various settings. Katrina started to grow a bit frustrated and wanted to stop Vhane from messing with her. However, she had no idea where he’ll be located and she decided to spend the day at her favorite place; Baxtorian Falls.

Baxtorian Falls was one of the very few places that Katrina can go to help clear her mind; or at least relax for the time being. Katrina spends most of her time at the eastern waterfall, which leads into the bay. She was sitting underneath the tree while listening and watching the ripples of the running water.

This was until she was interrupted by Vhane’s sudden laughter from behind her. “Oh, Katrina, my sweet dear. Haven’t you learned you can’t ever get away from me?” Katrina looked over her shoulder to Vhane, who was standing several feet away. Her brown eyes were giving him a piercing glare.

“What’s the look for? I only wanted to give you some company.” “

Yea and try to kill me with my back turned?” Katrina eventually stood up to face him.

“Kill you? Why would I do such a thing? You’re very close to my heart; I only want to do what is best for you.”

“If you truly wish that, then get out of my life and everyone else’s.” Vhane slowly stepped up towards Katrina, though giving her a distance of only a foot. His hand extended out to brush her cheek softly but his attempt what abruptly stopped as it was smacked down.

“Your actions are powerfully harsh, Katrina. You should be ashamed.”  Katrina only gave him a scowl as she stepped back. Her left, dominate hand began to charge magic. “Are you sure you want to resort to violence, Katrina? Think about what might happen. One of us could die. You could die.”

“If anyone is going to die, it will be you, Vhane. I will make sure of it.” The charged up spell that Katrina had would be thrown towards Vhane, thus beginning a magical fight. Vhane has a habit of taunting Katrina during fights, thus causing her anger to slowly build up. Eventually Katrina had enough of his teasing and casted a powerful enough air spell to send Vhane flying into a small pond. Katrina slowly walked up to the water, though trying to remain out of Vhane’s sight. When he finally remerged to the surface, Katrina launched herself at him. By this doing this, she allowed herself to send a kick to the side of his head and because of her momentum and weight, it rendered him unconscious. 

With Vhane now out cold, Katrina took the opportunity to fully drag him out of the small pond. She was strongest in water and ice magic and with the two combined; she managed to form an ice block around Vhane’s body. Granted that it wasn’t thick, it was enough to keep him from moving. In order to prevent the ice from melting, Katrina teleported Vhane to one of the few mountains in Gielinor. Katrina felt as though she finally won a battle with Vhane along with some revenge and with the energy she had left in her, she teleported to the Academy to spread the news. 

“Elrond!” Katrina tiredly shouted as she entered the Academy’s courtyard. Her father was luckily within earshot distance and quickly walked over to her.

“Katrina? What happened to you?” Elrond’s arm wrapped around Katrina and helped her to the fountain. After sitting down, she begins explaining.

“I got into a fight with Vhane. I defeated him in a magic fight by freezing him.”

“Freezing… him? Katrina, that was a bad idea… When he gets out of that, he will be mad and he will be going after you more furiously than ever.”

Katrina looked up Elrond with concern on her face. “I’m sorry-… I didn’t know what to do. I just wanted him gone.” 

“I understand. However, it does give us time to find a more… permanent way to rid him for good. I will tell you more about it at a later date. For now, get some rest.” Katrina would nod with a soft smile to Elrond and sets off to her bedroom to rest as her father requested.

The Precious Gem

Katrina was sitting at the fountain of the Academy while reading a book that a friend given her. A figure walked through the gate and the man’s heavy boots hit the tile. Katrina looked up rather excited, hoping it to be her husband. Instead, it was Elrond and she sighed softly. Katrina was still happy to see her father, but still disappointed by the fact it wasn’t her love. Elrond approached her with a stern face, one that she knew he wanted to tell her something of a serious manner. He sat beside her and sighed before he spoke, “Katrina. I found a book yesterday while cleaning my office. I stayed up late to read it and I think it could help us with Vhane.”

She gave him a blank stare before she asked, “What’s this book about?”

“Well. Here’s the thing, it’s only a myth, kinda. But if it happens to be true, it could prove very useful. So useful that it could get rid of him for good.” 

“A myth? I’m not so sure about that…” Katrina responded with a worried look.

“Katrina… I want you to find out if it is true or not. The myth is about a gem, a soul gem to be exact. Once you defeat an enemy, you have to use the enchanted gem on him immediately afterwards to capture his soul. His soul will forever be stuck in the gem and cannot get out without an external source. If this gem does exist, it would be located in the mountains east of Adrougne, which I’m certain you’ve been there since you grew up in that city. However, it does not tell me its exact location within the mountains or what to even expect on your journey.” 

Katrina sighed softly, “Well, it is doesn’t sound all that hard… But I do know better than to believe that. I’m willing to go after it… I just… Hope I won’t be going there for nothing.”

Elrond gave Katrina a reassuring smile and placed a hand on her shoulder. “I believe that it’s there Katrina… I honestly don’t like asking you to do this but you’re the only on that I truly trust than can get this done.”

“Well, if you think that it’s truly there, then it must be. I promise I won’t let you down, father.” Katrina smiled softly after speaking and so did Elrond. He leaned over to kiss Katrina on her forehead gently, before he got up to walk off to the grandmaster’s office. She glanced down at the water of the fountain, in which she still sitting on the edge of. “I wonder how the hell I’m going to tell Holden this without him freaking out.” She thought to herself and she raised her hands to bury her face into them. She started to hear the sound of footsteps again, but it was lighter ones than those of Elrond’s she heard earlier. Katrina lowered her hands to look at the gate but she saw nothing. Before she could turn around, she felt a pair of arms hug her. She was startled and quickly glanced up over her shoulder.

“Hey Kat, what’re you doing?” Holden said, as he released his hug to sit beside her. 

Katrina simply smiled at Holden, but the words of Elrond from earlier raced through her mind. “Oh, uh. Nothing, I guess.”

“Nothing? That sounds boring. Is something wrong?”

“Well... There is. Elrond came up to me earlier and he wants me to go on… A mission.” 

“Again? Can’t he find anything better to do other than finding something for you to go after?” Katrina shrugged.

“But-... It’s important though. If I manage to find what he wants me to get, then it could stop Vhane. Forever.”

“Now you got my attention. What does he want you to get?” 

“It’s something called a soul gem. It’s supposed to capture someone’s soul whenever you defeat them. So he couldn’t come back to life, even if a necromancer wanted to try. Elrond told me it’s located in the mountains of Adrougne…”

“Gosh… Kat. That’s a long way away from here. Please don’t tell me he only wants you to go do this… Because I don’t want you to go alone. Again.”

“He didn’t directly say it… But it was implied.” Katrina looked up at him with a frown.

“At least… Promise me you’ll come back safe.” Holden looked at her with worry in his eyes.

“I’ll try my best… I always do. Anyway… I-… I probably should go get ready for it.” Katrina stood up from the fountain and Holden did the same. She looked at his eyes for a moment before she silently hugged him tightly. He did return this hug, but it didn’t last long. Katrina walked around him to walk towards her dorm, to get prepared for the journey ahead of her.It was the following morning that Katrina was standing at the entrance gates of the Academy. She wore her thick, leather armor and carried a dark grey backpack, which had medical supplies, food, water, a pair of daggers, and other necessities. As Katrina stared off in the distance, thoughts were racing through her mind of how this journey could turn out. Positive ones came at first, but then the negativity set in. She shook her mind as the possibly of death came across and she took in a deep breath. Katrina charged up a spell would be able to teleport her to Ardougne, making her journey much shorter than travelling half across the realm. Katrina released this spell once fully charged and she was engulfed by a glowing, bright light. 

After a long walk from the busy market of Ardougne, Katrina finally approached a cave within the side of the mountain range. The cave’s entryway just wasn’t any sort of entrance. It resembled a monster’s mouth wide open, with its sharp teeth lined at the top and also randomly lined on the ground. It had a snout and eyes that would be glowing a faint red. A cold breeze would come from within the cave, causing Katrina to feel a shiver go down her spine. Taking in a deep breath, she stepped forward to enter with caution. 

Inside of the cavern appeared empty but it was clear that it wasn’t entirely abandoned. Katrina ventured further down the corridor that had multiple side passages. She looked down each one, but none of which that lead to anything or just pure darkness. After much more walking, she came across a passageway that was different than the others. The torches were much more uniformed and larger in size along the walls, and also ascended downward in a small slope. She swiftly turned into the passageway and the air was noticeably colder than before. It began to get dimmer, as the torches were beginning to lessen in number and farther apart. Deciding to be cautious, Katrina took a torch off from the wall and held it in front of her as she continued. She came across a large, wooden door that showed a puzzle, with a total of three turning wheels on it. Each of them had rows of different symbols, but all three had only one matching symbol. It didn’t take Katrina very long to figure this out and once the last wheel was in place, the door made a large “clunk” noise and it opened a little. Katrina pushed on it to open it further and she took a step inside. 

The gem Katrina had to retrieve.

What Katrina found inside the circular shaped room was an elevated tomb. At the base was a dark green vine that flowed down the stairs that surrounded the tomb. The vine went towards the walls and some climbed up it about half way while others were even higher. Katrina walked towards the tomb while being careful to not step on the vines. She ascended the stairs to the head of the tomb and she swallowed roughly before placing her hands onto the lid. Katrina grunts as she pushed the heavy lid a third off of the tomb. Inside of it was lined with a vibrant red cloth and where the head would be was a pillow and on top sat the glowing gem. Katrina’s eyes widen a bit from the sight and she gently took the gem from its resting place. The soft blue glow of the gem brightened as she touched it. She slung her backpack out in front of her and placed the gem one a side pocket for safe keeping. As she went to put her backpack on properly, she felt a sudden gust of wind go by her face and then a sting along her right cheek. An arrow had just barely scrapped her and she quickly looked at the entrance.

"You foolish girl! You won’t escape this fortress with that gem!” A bulky guard named Arastan, shouted out fiercely. He stood at six foot and seven inches, with multiple weapons attached to his belt and legs. He threw the bow he held to the ground and begins to march towards Katrina. She did not respond to his remark and she began to step backward with fear growing in her eyes. As Katrina was franticly trying to think of a way to escape, it didn’t take him for him to be towering over her. Arastan lifted her up by gripping her neck and Katrina’s hand gripped onto his hold as she gasped for air. Arastan smirked and threw her towards the wall with her head first, which had enough force behind it to knock her out.

An hour had past and Katrina slowly opened her eyes. The room was a bit brighter than what she last remembered. Upon waking fully, she realized where she was. She was within a cell, with shackles around her wrists that is attached to a wall by heavy chains. Katrina felt exhausted and she noticed her backpack was leaning against the opposite wall of her. “I gotta find a way to get out of here…” Katrina whispered softly to herself and she begins to fumble with her shackles. Katrina’s wrists her fairly small and with enough force, she managed to pull her right wrist out of the shackle but it would be quite painful. Luckily for her, the cell wasn’t too large and with enough effort to stretch herself out, she was able to kick her backpack closer to her. Katrina searched through her bag to take a dagger and she used it to picklock the remaining shackle to free herself. She stood up weakly and begins to slowly walk towards the cell door to picklock it was well. As soon as the cell door was unlocked, she swung it open to begin walking down the corridor.

Katrina came to the end of the corridor to a large room and she cautiously peeked her head around the corner to examine the areaIt had a fairly large black and red table in the middle, with a total of ten seats surrounding it. Nine of them were just regular chairs but the tenth one looked like a throne of sorts and this was where Vhane was sitting. In the middle of the table was the gem that has taken from her backpack. “There it is… If I could jus-…”  

“Well well well, isn’t it Miss Katrina?” Vhane spoke, which interrupted Katrina’s thoughts. All she could do was stare at him, not sure if she should respond, say quiet or try to escape. “A little shy now are we? I know you were after this precious gem of mine. Why not come and take it?” Vhane spoke with a surprisingly calm voice.

Katrina took a few steps into the room before stopping again and softly speaking, “I know what you’ll do Vhane… The moment I touch it, you’ll try to kill me…” 

“Don’t be foolish. I wouldn’t do such a thing. You mean so much to me. Only if you could-…” 

“No! I won’t join you. You’ve said that every time I run into you and my answer always stayed the same. And always will. I will never take your side, even if it could cost my life…” Her voice in the beginning was quite confident but it began to be get softer and trail off at the end. 

“You’re a stubborn little girl. You know if you joined me, you could have everything you ever wanted.” 

“I already have everything I want.” She snapped at him, barely allowing Vhane to finish. 

“Do you? I bet there is something that you don’t have that you want.” Vhane got up from his throne and he walked around the round table to the opposite end. His long, sharp nails would grind along the table as he walked, causing an unpleasant and high pitch noise against the metal edging. 

“There isn’t.” Katrina cringed a bit from the noise but tried to focus on charging a teleport spell. Luckily for Katrina, Vhane didn’t take much notice to this. She begins to walk forward and stood near the table while staring at Vhane. He swiftly ran around the table towards her, but she dived with whatever energy she had left to get ahold of the gem. Her free hand grasped it tightly, only for Vhane to get ahold of her leg. She kicked violently at him and he stepped back a few steps. This gave Katrina an opportunity to release her teleport spell and a bright light engulfed her. Vhane yelled out in anger and charged to slam his fists onto her but it was already too late as she had vanished.

Katrina appeared at the arch in front of the Academy. It was a distance from the gates, so one wouldn’t be able to see her unless they stepped outside. She immediately collapsed onto the ground, the spell completely draining whatever energy she had left. Luckily, a few moments after she appeared, Holden walked out of the gates as he intended to head into town for his daily kebab run. He walked a few steps before he noticed Katrina and he instantly rushed over her. He dropped onto his knees beside her with a small slide and he flipped her over onto her back. 

“K-Kat?” Holden spoke with a worried tone. Katrina wasn’t able to respond, as she was completely unconscious. He noticed the gem was lying loosely in her hand and he took it to stuff it into one of his pockets. He then picked her up and carried her off to the medical room.

On his way there, he bumped into a random student. “Go get Elrond. It’s important.” Holden demanded and the student nervously nodded her head and rushed off. With a kick of the door, he stepped into the infirmary to lay Katrina down one of the beds. 

“What happened? Is she alright?” Elrond rushed in and immediately went by Katrina’s side. 

“She’s-… She’s badly hurt. I dunno why you sent her in the first place, I knew this would happen.” Holden mumbled this last sentence to himself.

“What did you say?” Elrond snapped a bit, while grabbing some medical supplies to begin treating Katrina’s wounds. 

“I said nothing.” Holden glared at him. “I got this stupid gem though. You want it?” He pulled it out from his pocket.

“Of course I want it. That’s why I sent her to get it.” Elrond stepped over to take it quickly from him after he finished bandaging Katrina up.

“I don’t know what your problem is but it needs to stop.” 

“My problem? It’s the fact that my wife is like this! And it’s because you sent her on that stupid mission!” Before Elrond could respond, Katrina groaned a bit in pain, causing both of the men to draw their attention to her. 

“W-..Where am I?” Katrina whispered while trying to sit up. Elrond gently placed a hand on her shoulder, to keep her lying down.

“Shh… You’re safe. You’re back at the Academy.” Katrina seemed to panic all of the sudden. Her hands felt around her clothing as she believed she failed to grab the gem from the table earlier. “The gem… Where is it? I thought I had it…”

“It’s right here.”  Elrond hold it up for Katrina to see. She sighed in relief and laid back fully against the bed. Holden stepped over to sit on the bed next to her and reached out a hand to gently grab her own. “How are you feeling?”

“Horrible… Exhausted… It was a hell of a journey. Just glad I got out… Alive.” 

“I’m glad as well. You did a wonderful job Katrina.” Elrond spoke. “Holden, how about we leave her be so she can rest?” 

“Actually, no. I’m staying here by her side.” Holden quickly said as he gave a glare to Elrond. Elrond shook his head as he turned to exit the infirmary. “Do you need anything? Food, water..?” 

Katrina shook her head and her eyes already beginning to close as she spoke tiredly. “No… I just want to sleep.” 

“I’ll be here when you wake up… I promise.” Holden gave a small smile towards her and she was barely able to return it. She got into the most comfortable position possible and she fell asleep; only to begin her recovery for the coming days.   

The End of Vhane 

"Katrina!" Elrond yelled at he walked up the stairs to the Academy's dining room. Katrina was quietly sitting at one of the four tables eating her lunch. 

"Oh, father. I wasn't expecting a visit." Katrina said with a mouth full of food. 

"Just eat and listen. I got something important to tell you." Elrond sat down across from her and places an old, leather bound book in front of her with the gem sitting on top. "This. There's some things I need to gather before I can send you off with it to destroy Vhane. I have a connection back in my homeland that will get me the things I need to enchant it. But, it'll be a while." 

Katrina stopped in mid-chew to stare at her father before she spoke, "What do you mean... 'It'll be a while'?" 

"Katrina-... Listen. The things I need is not easy to get. It'll be a month or-..." 

"A month?!" Katrina interrupted her father. "I cannot wait that long!"  

"Katrina! You have to understand, we need to get these things to make it work properly." Katrina sighed with frustration and just nods in agreement to her father. "I'll get it ready as soon as I can and I will let you know. Alright?" Katrina simply responded with, "Alright." 

It was only a week before Vhane decided to make a strike out towards Katrina. She was having major hallucinations of her mother, Vhane himself and various other random things that she's scared of, such as spiders. However, because Katrina was injured by an attack at the Academy and taken medicine to help heal herself, the blame was originally on the medicine. Several weeks past and Katrina stopped taking the medicine. The hallucinations, however, remained, and only gotten worse. 

Katrina was standing at the fountain of the Academy and stared down the pool of water. She was smiling at her reflection, which to Katrina, was of her biological mother and Katrina was quietly mumbling herself. She was having a conversation with her reflection. Elrond soon walked up and placed a hand on Katrina's shoulder. "Katrina, are you alright?" 

"Yeah! I'm talking to my mother. See, she's right here." Katrina looked back down at her reflection and gestured to it. "Don't you see her?" 

"Katrina-... That's, your own reflection. Not your mother." 

"No-... No! It's my mother! She was even talking back to me!" 

"Katrina! Listen to me. You're not yourself; you're having those hallucinations again. I've told you, remember? You cannot believe everything you see." 

Katrina stared at her father with an upset look. "But she was-..." She glanced back down at her reflection, which to her, returned back to normal. "I-... I can't stand it anymore. You think I'm insane, right?" 

"No, I don't think you are. I understand what you're going through."  

Katrina thought her hallucination was gone, but it only returned. Elrond's words would twist around and say the exact opposite, thus making her believe her own father thought she was insane. This caused Katrina to begin yelling at her father in anger and shove him back. Elrond caught one of her forearms and then other. "Katrina! Stop! What's the matter with you?" 

"You said-... You said I was insane! You said it yourself! Out of everyone, I trust... You think that!"

"I didn't say that Katrina! You know better than that. You need to pull through. You want to destroy Vhane, right?" 

"Yeah-... I do." 

"Then you have to pull yourself together. You can't go and fight him if you believe your hallucinations left and right. You have to become strong. Stronger than you were before. I know you can do it, Katrina. You just have to believe in yourself. Alright?"

“I-… I’m sorry… I’ll get better.” Katrina responded with the guilt shining within her eyes.  

“No, don’t be sorry. It isn’t your fault. I’ll have the gem prepared by next week. Will you be ready by then?” Katrina only nods at her father and he gave her a quick kiss on the top of the forehead. 

As the week passes, Katrina was slowly improving and preparing herself to face against Vhane. Elrond has managed to get the supplies needed to prepare the important gem. As soon as Elrond told the news to Katrina, she sets off with her husband, Holden, and along with her father to find Vhane’s fortress. However, during their journey within a cave to find it, Elrond was trapped by random but perfectly timed falling rocks. Elrond simply ordered Katrina and Holden to continue on and they soon arrived at the entrance of Vhane’s territory. The area was filled with a variety of black, gray and red tiles, furniture, banners, and a vareity of other things. However, the dark elf himself wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Katrina and Holden stood in the main room and simply waited. 

“Where is he?” Holden asked with a nervous tone. 

“I don’t know, but he’s here somewhere-…” As soon as Katrina ended her sentence, Vhane stepped out from one of the side rooms. He had a large grin stretched across his cheeks as he sets eyes on Katrina. 

“Miss Katrina!” Vhane happily shouted out. “What a pleasant surprise. I was just about to go pay you a visit. Come, why not have a sit, my dear?” 

“She isn’t going to sit with you.” Holden chimed in before Katrina has a chance to say anything. 

“Oh, who’s this? Your lover? A shame he’s come along. I may just have to, say, take him out while he’s here. What do you say Katrina?” 

“I wouldn’t let that happen. The only person who’s going to kill someone is me, with my sword pierced through your dark and cold-blooded heart.” 

Vhane walks forward to get closer to Katrina. “And your father. I know he’s trapped. How about I send someone to take him out too? Hm?”   

“Enough!” Katrina shouted as she casted a couple of spells at Vhane. Holden simply stepped back away from to not get caught in any crossfire. Vhane, however, resisted with his own magic and thus causing a frenzy of spells to be cast by both him and Katrina. However, Katrina had inched closer to Vhane to begin using close quarters combat with her fists and sword, but of course without the occasional spell casting. It wasn’t long before Katrina was thrown into a stone pillar by Vhane. 

“Pathetic! You really think you can destroy me, Katrina?” 

“I just don’t think that. I know I can. And I will.” Katrina spoke through her teeth as she stood up. The impact against the pillar shot a surge of pain through her body. However, Vhane didn’t hesitate to charge at Katrina again and she’s thrown into the round table within the center of the large room. As Vhane tried to grab onto Katrina again, she surprised them by rolling herself to slam him onto the table as well. Once the pair gotten themselves on the floor again, another explosive magic fight began. This time, however, Katrina was slowly gaining the upper hand against Vhane. This was until he landed a devastating blow to her shoulder with a spell. He took the advantage to cripple her further by sending a wave of slashes at her with his dagger. Katrina was now kneeled onto her right knee as she stared up at Vhane, who was standing directly over her.  

“Elendil was right about you, Katrina. You are weak. You are pathetic. I should have killed you at the first chance I got.” With that sentence said, Vhane lifted his dagger up above him. He grinned widely before he violently sent it at Katrina’s skull. With the energy she had left, she used her left hand to interrupt the stab. Her right hand, however, was holding onto her sword and with all of her might, she sends her sword up into Vhane’s chest cavity while she stood up. Vhane’s body shut down and dropped onto his knees before Katrina. 

“H-… Holden. The gem.” Katrina tiredly spoke out and without hesitation; her husband tossed the enchanted gem at Katrina. She was barely able to catch it and she mumbled a couple of words under her breathe as she took a step away from Vhane’s body. The blue soul gem was held out by her hand to Vhane and it glowed brightly. Vhane’s entire corpse seemed to be taken with his own soul as it’s sucked into the gem itself. The bright glow the gem had would slowly die down to a dim, blue glow. 

Katrina collapsed onto her knees with a victorious smile on her face. “I finally… Did it.” Katrina barely spoke out before she allows her body to pass out from pure exhaustion. Holden quickly ran over to caught his wife and Elrond, who managed to get through the blocked path from earlier, approached the pair. “Holden! Is she-…” 

Holden glanced up at Elrond with a grin. “Yeah. She’s alright. She got him.” 

“That’s my girl.” Elrond said with a proud tone and Holden preceded to teleport them all to the Academy. When Katrina woke up, she stared at the infirmary’s ceiling for a moment before turning her head to see her father standing beside her. Elrond didn’t say anything but held up the faintly glowing gem for her to see.

“You should have seen it-… It was-… It was the greatest feeling in the world when he-… When it was over.” 

“I’m sure it was Katrina. I can’t imagine how much relief you are feeling. I know I am.” Elrond smiled at Katrina as he continued. “Rest up. Recover. Take a long vacation if you want. You deserved it. I’ll be sure this gets stored somewhere safe.” Katrina nods at her father with another smile. When Elrond let the room, all Katrina heard was silence; pure silence. She felt for the first time in a couple of years was freedom, relief and relaxation. Katrina didn’t have to worry anymore. She was finally able to free herself from her greatest enemy’s grasp for once and for all.  

Searching for Holden

Brainwashed

One day on a calm and quiet afternoon at the Academy, an old but mysterious man entered the courtyard. The only two that were there at the time was Katrina and Evgeni, who easily dismissed the seemingly insane individual. It was later that evening that a younger man approached the grounds. He was an assassin who was after Katrina. With the combination of using both her melee and magic skills, the assassin was killed within a matter of moments. Evgeni, who was gone during this time, had returned back to the Academy. However, the mysterious and insane man from earlier was following him. Evgeni got into a very short fight with him that ended with the man’s leg to be partially blown off. He was taken to the infirmary to be interrogated by Evgeni. This strange man turned out to be Reginald; Holden’s biological father. He gave a location of where Holden may possibly be and Katrina set out to investigate, but only without her father, Elrond.  

Katrina and Elrond were lead to the swamps south of Lumbridge. There, they searched for any possible clues that will lead them towards Holden. Sadly, nothing significant was found and had to resort back to prodding Reginald for more legitimate information. He finally told them of a small organization, which he was a part of, located in Brimhaven. Katrina, Elrond, and Evgeni set off to this pirate infested village to hopefully find any possible clues to Holden. 

Upon arrival via teleportation to the town, the three decided to set off to the bar. They spilt up into different sections of the building; Elrond simply stood in the corner to watch for any suspicious activity, Evgeni talked to the bartender, and Katrina talked among the drinkers. With the information that both Katrina and Evgeni managed to get, they find that one of the buildings may possibly be Holden’s location. With alternate information Evgeni obtained, he set off to search the docks instead, leaving only Katrina and Elrond. Upon investigating the building south of the bar, they found another clue that will lead them to Edgeville. 

A day had past and only Katrina and Evgeni had arrived at Edgeville without Elrond. With the clues they found in Brimhaven, it lead them to one of the small homes within the town’s city limits. Luckily no one was within the house at the time, giving the pair time to search the house thoroughly. A basement was discovered, which held an unpleasant sight and smell. Within the middle of the room was a pile of corpses. The chests of the bodies were open, as if the heart had violently exploded outward. The eyes of the victims were wide open, as if they feared for their life before their demise. Katrina couldn’t stand the sight of this and she turned to away to walk to one of the beds. Holden’s signature hat, one that Katrina had given him for a present, was gently lying on top of the sheets. This was a for sure sign that Holden had been staying there. While Evgeni was searching the rest of the room, strange popping of wood from above slowly filled the area. The two soon found out that the house above ground was set on fire. Evgeni charged up his magic to blast a hole through the floor and roof to provide the pair a way to escape. 

When Katrina and Evgeni had managed to safely get out, Evgeni caught a glimpse of a man running away from the house. With his quick movements, he managed to catch up to the fugitive but much to his surprise, the old man had somehow dodged every attack with his extreme flexibly. Katrina and Evgeni managed to talk to the man and made arrangements to meet at the Blue Moon Inn inside of Varrock peacefully. There, the pair made a deal with the man, who was named Caryle. Caryle mentioned that he did have Holden and wanted to exchange him for Reginald. Katrina and Evgeni agreed and they all decided to meet in the woods outside of Varrock the following day. 

The meeting place between Katrina, Evgeni, and Caryle.

When the next day arrived, Katrina, Evgeni, and Reginald met Caryle and his lackeys outside of Varrock. Before the important matters were first met, Caryle warned to not fight one of his men, who was covered with a hood made from wolf fur and clothing along with it. Evgeni easily dismissed the warning and insisted to carry on with the deal. Caryle presented a man whose head was covered in bloody, thick bandages infront of Evgeni and Katrina. They were not entirely convinced it was Holden and so Katrina unwrapped the bandages from the man’s head. His features were damaged beyond recognition but the pair somehow knew it wasn’t Holden. With Caryle arguing with Evgeni that it was indeed Holden, Evgeni eventually attacked him out of pure fustration. Caryle was thrown into one of the trees and a sharp branch impaled his arm. During this time, Caryle’s mercenaries had already left with Reginald, as he was evenutally handed over, but the wolf hooded man had returned. He revealed himself as a brainwashed Holden, who attacked both Katrina and Evgeni. A fight ensued that caused Evgeni to enter Transcendence. Closer to the end of the fighting, he charged at Holden. In order to protect Holden, Caryle managed to free himself from the tree's branches and fall directly into Evgeni’s path. Caryle was violently set into a tree’s trunk and died upon impact. Holden was outraged and use the body of Caryle as a human bomb with his magic. While Evgeni and Katrina took cover from the “bomb”, Holden had passed out from exhaustion.

Within the distance, Reginald was heard screaming as he killed Caryle’s mercenaries. With Holden now passed out, Evgeni picked him up to set off with an injured Katrina to find Reginald. Their trail of the old man was eventually lost within Lumbridge. When Evgeni and Katrina stopped a moment to rest, Holden had awakened. He appeared to be back to his usual self and he embraced Katrina as they were reunited. This only lasted for a moment as Holden had a played a cruel trick and put a knife up to Katrina’s neck as she’s held hostage. Evgeni, however, remained calm, as he created an illusion of himself via magic. The illusion remained in front Holden to in attempt to talk him out of it, while the real Evgeni snuck behind Holden to deliver a forceful blow to his neck. This attack made him let go of Katrina as planned, but the fall made Holden’s head smash against a rock. The rock caused significant damage and Evgeni had no choice but to heal him via necromancy to keep Holden alive. 

The three eventually made it to the Academy. Within the infirmary, Holden was lying on one of the beds when he awakened. Evgeni and Katrina were by his side. Holden believed he was still held hostage by Caryle and didn’t believe Evgeni and Katrina were real, but portrayed as fakes. In order to prove themselves to Holden, they allowed him to ask specific questions that only they would know from past experiences with each other. Holden was soon convinced that he was back at safety like he was told, and spent a few weeks in recovery along with Katrina.  

An Unexpected Twist

It was once again several weeks, if not months, before Katrina has seen any sight of Holden. He was on her mind one day while she standing within the busy courtyard at the Sanctum of Heroes. She was simply watching the other members, who converse with each other while she stood alone. However, this was until a blonde haired man, with youth in his appearance, entered through the gates. He was holding a rectangular wooden box tightly in his hands while he approached Katrina, “Are you Miss Katrina Avery?” 

Katrina stared at this man with a black face for a moment. She was confused on how he knew her name, but regardless, she didn’t question it as she spoke with a nervous voice. “Yeah-… I am.” 

“Pleased to meet you, Miss Katrina. I am Denis. I’m a scout from the city of Ardougne. I found this outside of Witchaven’s forest. I’m presuming that you’re Holden’s wife.” Denis holds the wooden box to Katrina, in which she hesitated before taking it from him. As she opened it, a finger laid neatly inside with Holden’s wedding ring still hugging around it. Katrina would gasp, a look of worry quickly washing over her face before she swiftly shuts the wooden box. 

“I-… I don’t know what to say. I mean-… I’m glad you’ve came. Where is Holden?”

“It’s okay, Miss Katrina. However, I do not know of his whereabouts. But like I’ve said, I found it outside of Witchaven in the forest. It’s hard to miss.” Denis spoke before he gave a bow to Katrina. “Oh, and Miss? Is it possible for me to stay here for the night? The journey here was a rough one, as you may imagine.” 

“Of course… Stay as long as you need.” Katrina responded to Denis before she walked to the Sanctum’s gates. She stared down at the wooden box for a moment before she approached two of her fellow members; Ryo and Yona. The two men offered to join her to the trip to Witchaven, to investigate the area that Denis had spoken of.  

Through Ryo’s teleportation methods, they arrived just inside the forest outside of the village. The three then began to look over the area. However, it wasn’t long when a patch of grass was discovered with a large splotch of blood staining it. Upon further investigation, Katrina came to the conclusion that a fight had taken place, as multiple blunt marks were on trees, foot prints franticly running around in circles in one concluded area, and a large hole from the tree’s base that indicated magic usage. The trio, however, came to find no leads and was forced to head back to the Sanctum. 

It was a week later before Denis arrived back at the Sanctum. However, his hands weren’t empty. Denis carried Holden’s sword, which is instantly recognizable to Katrina as she gave him the very same sword to her husband as a graduation gift.

“Hello, Miss Katrina. How are you faring?” Denis spoke with his usual polite tone. 

“I’m holding up okay I guess-… Where’d, you get his sword at?” 

“Hm? Oh. This. Yes, I found it at the ‘crime scene’. I went to look around the area again and I found it lying in the blood spot. I’m sure you know what I spoke of, correct?” 

“Of course. But, the sword wasn’t there whenever I went.” Katrina gave Denis a questioning look. However, Katrina quickly shoves any kind of suspicion to the back of her mind, as she thought it possibly wasn’t true that something strange was occurring.  

“Well, that sure is strange, then. Here, I wanted you have it.” Denis handed Katrina the sword before he continued on. “I thought maybe we’ll head to Witchaven soon. Speak with the villagers there for any witnesses. Of course, you may bring someone who you trust along with you.” 

“Okay-… Perhaps I’ll take my father. He’ll like to take part in the finding of my husband, as he told me so yesterday.” 

“Good, good. We’ll leave soon. Until then, Miss Katrina.” Denis once again gives Katrina small bow and she simply nodded in return. As she heads off to put Holden’s sword in a safe place, she ran into none other, but Elrond. Katrina simply explained the situation of Holden and her father instantly agreed to go along with her. It wasn’t until an hour later that Denis, Katrina, and Elrond arrives at Witchaven via teleportation. 

“Eeugghhhh…” Elrond groaned a bit sickly as he and the other two landed from the teleporting. 

“Are you okay, father?” Katrina asked with a concerned tone. 

“He’ll be fine.” Denis replied instead. “So you two will go into the bar and talk to the locals there. I’ll be looking around elsewhere, perhaps the docks.” 

“Right…” Elrond spoke as he walked alongside Katrina to head to the local bar. Elrond closely watched Denis as he went to the southern side of Witchaven. “I’ll be okay, Katrina. I’m simply not use to this, teleporting thing that you do so often.” 

“Oh. I’m sorry, father. I’m sure you’ll get used to it, though.” Katrina gave a reassuringly smile to Elrond to show that he will; as the chances are they’ll be teleporting quite a bit during their search for her husband. Elrond only lets out a groaned sigh before the pair approached the double doors to the local bar. By simply being outside, one could tell the place was fairly loud from the talking, with deep and hearty laughter filling the salty air. Katrina gently pushed onto the doors to enter the building and the noise only seemed to intensify. The first thing she noticed was a round table filled with fisherman and their captain. It was quite clear they were the source from the bellows of laughter. 

“How about we talk to them first?” Katrina looked over her shoulder to her father. 

“Right behind you.” Elrond responded as he followed Katrina’s footsteps to the corner. Katrina decided this might be a good time to show off her charm a bit to get what she needs and so she flashed a beautiful smile to all the shipmates as she approached, simply saying; “How about the next round is on me?”  

“A beautiful lass offerin’ drinks?” The large bellied captain bellowed with his deep voice. 

“C’mon lass! How ‘bout ya sit on the Cap’n’s lap?” A shipmate responded to her and the captain only roared out laughter, as if it was his way of agreeing to the suggestion. 

“Aye, of course!” Katrina said with a happy tone but when she looked to her father, it had the expression of “help me”; however, she quickly erased the look to not upset the shipmates and she only gave another gorgeous smile to the crew.   

“How about the lass sit in a chair instead?” Elrond suggests as he casually stole an empty chair from a nearby table and all the shipmates, including the captain, gave a cold, hard glare at Katrina’s father. Katrina took note of this and immediately sat in the captain’s lap. 

“So, gentlemen.” Katrina said with a calm but appealing voice. “How is the sea faring?”  

“How is the sea farin’? Quite rough, I tell ya! Storms all ova’ the place.” The captain of the crew responded before he asked the young woman a question. “How ‘bout we tell ya a story, lass?”  

“A story? Hm. What kind of story? Does it involve strange sightings?”  

“I did see somethin’ strange the other day.” A shipmate responded before he continued. “But it ain’t nothin’ important. How ‘bout I tell ya the time I wrestled a shark?”  

“What’d you see?” Katrina asked as she completely ignored the second part of the man’s sentence. 

“Well, if ya wanna know, I’ll tell ya. Ya know that forest out here? I saw some strange man givin’ orders to some group. Nothin’ I’ve seen before. Quite strange if ya ask me.”  

“What’d the man look like?”  

“Black clothin’. A red beard. But that’s ‘bout it. Now what ‘bout that story I told ya ‘bout?”  

“Of cou-…” Katrina’s words were cut off as the shouting of Denis was heard outside of the bar. Quite swiftly, Katrina climbed out of the captain’s lap, over the table and onto the wooden floor to spirit outside. Her father quickly followed her and the two came across an injured Denis with a knife protruding from his thigh. 

“Katrina! He went that way!” Denis points at the running fugitive while Elrond bends down to help Denis. Katrina gave no response as she ran towards the fishing shop, in which the man entered. Katrina’s steps would slow as she neared the entrance of the building. As she leaned into the doorway, the man’s gaze was looking out of the second door towards Witchaven’s dock, as if he were waiting for some kind of cue. Katrina took the opportunity to launch a kick at the man but as she did, the man glanced directly as her and was able to avoid the kick barely. Her leg was rammed into the wall; however, this didn’t stop her from tackling after him. Her firm grasp took hold of his coat and he managed to escape from the atricle of clothing. The man threw a fishing net at Katrina, from which he snatched from the wall, to give a distraction for his getaway.

Before Katrina could rip the fishing net off of her, the man was almost half down to the docks. She took note of the small boat approaching when she ran out of the building and towards the wooden docks. The men within the boat, however, had black clothing and a crimson red beard. Katrina’s priority instantly switched over to go after this man, in which will be called Red Beard, instead. The first fugitive looked utterly confused as she ran past him along the docks. With the strength within her legs, Katrina launched herself off the docks and towards the boat to leap into it. However, Red Beard used his paddle to try to swat Katrina off into the water. This tactic for him, however, failed as she latched onto the paddle and swung herself into the boat. The man kicked Katrina to the nose of the boat and used a dagger to pierce a hole into the wooden bottom. With the help of the fugitive, Red Beard leapt off onto the docks. Red Beard turned to the defeated Katrina and blow a kiss towards her before the two men ran off into the distance. 

The small boat was gradually sinking and Katrina barely managed to grab onto the edge of the docks. Once she climbed herself up, she walked back towards the center of Witchaven after retrieving the coat, in which the man left. 

“He got away.” Katrina said as she approached Denis and Elrond with half soaked clothes. “But I got this.” 

“His coat? Of what use will that be?” Denis responded with a bit of an annoyed tone. 

“Maybe it’ll lead us somewhere.” Katrina replied as she tossed the coat to him. “And just so you know, I saw him. The red bearded guy.”  

Denis caught the coat and he held it up in front of him to stare at it. The first thing he noticed was the gang symbol on the left side pocket. “Katrina. Do you recognize this symbol?” Denis spoke as he turned the coat towards her. 

“I’ve never seen that symbol in my life.” 

“Hm. Well, it does look familiar to me. Do you mind if I take this? I may know someone who knows information of this.” Denis tossed the coat over his shoulder and ‘winced’ as he stood up. 

“I don’t mind. I guess you’ll contact us when you have something?” 

“Of course. Until then, Miss Katrina.” Denis gave a small nod to her and Elrond before he took his leave. In the meantime, Katrina and Elrond headed back to the Sanctum to rest up for whatever adventure may come next. 

The following day, during the middle of the morning, Denis made a commorb call to Katrina, requiring her presence, along with Elrond’s, at the south end of Ardougne’s zoo. Through Katrina’s teleportation once again, the slight queasy Elrond followed Katrina’s lead to Denis’ required location. 

“Good morning, Miss Katrina. Elrond.” Denis gave a polite tone to the arriving pair and gave a gesture for them to follow. “I’ll explain our plan as we walk. Do you two see that building over there?” Denis said as he walked along a path with Katrina and Elrond. He gave a gesture to the seemingly abandoned building with the gang’s insignia painted on the side, the symbol from the fugitive’s jacket. “We’ll need to break in through the top floor,” Denis explained as the building has two stories. “Most of their activities are in the basement, though. Since they have a doorman, I’ll help Katrina sneak in to take him out while Elrond distracts the doorman. Understood?” 

“Aye.” Katrina and Elrond both responded, though at different times. Denis and Katrina snuck to the southern side of the building while Elrond approached the doorway. Denis picked up a fairly large rock and signaled Elrond to loudly knock on the door. As if on cue, Elrond knocked, and Denis broke the upper level window with the heavy object. The pounding of the door was loud enough to block out the shattering glass from the upper level of the building. Elrond remained at the door portraying as a lost traveler to distract the doorman while Katrina is hoisted up by Denis to climb up into the broken window.    

Once inside the building, Katrina noticed the second level of the building is not used at all. The entire floor was empty with a layer of dust covering the wooden floors. She quietly stepped to the stairs to descend to the first floor, in which she was lucky enough to not run into anyone. Katrina proceeded to sneak in the room of the doorman, where he is deep in the conversation with Elrond. Upon the sight of what Katrina thought was a regular human, was actually a dwarf standing on a stool. She gave a bit of a silly smile at the sight, before her serious expression returned. Katrina quietly approached the small dwarf with her dagger in her hand, with the hilt facing outward. Suddenly, the dagger’s hilt smashed into the dwarf’s head and a thud is heard as he fell into the floor, unconscious.  

“You certainly got him good,” Denis said. “Now let us in.” 

“I’m getting to that.” Katrina replied as she kicked the stool aside and swung open the door to let the two gentlemen inside. “The stairs are around this way.” Katrina gave the two a gesture to follow her, in which they did, and she showed them the staircase. 

“I’ll take the lead from there. Thank you, Miss Katrina.” Denis nods towards the girl as he took the lead position of the group, guiding them quietly down into the basement. From there, Denis swiftly led Katrina and Elrond through multiple corridors of the basement. In the background, a group of men was clearly enjoying themselves with drinks, with the possibly of getting drunk to no end.  The passageways led them to a large room, with unfinished and ruined walls scattering the area. The three of them hid behind these walls as they realized the loud group of bandits was occupying the room as well. What else occupied the area were numerous crates filled with weapons. One in particular had skull and bones painted all over the surface of the wooden crate. The crates lined and stacked up against the walls surrounding the group, who were of average men except for the head at the table. This man in particular was larger, more muscular than his followers. It was clear he was the man in charge when he began speaking. 

“Ight, men!” The large man bellowed out as he pulled a crumbled up piece of paper from his shirt pocket. He squints at it, before he continued. “A long day of work, ain’t it men? Well, I gotta tell ya that it ain’t over. We gotta deliver these crates to Reginald. Sayin’ some desert school is botherin’ him.” The followers were murmuring amongst themselves for a moment before the leader continued. “We gotta get these crates to his address he gave me by tomorrow. Should be easy, aye?” 

“Aye!” The men all cried out before laughing and enjoying themselves with drinks once more. Katrina looked over towards Denis and Elrond.  

“We need that paper.” Denis remarked, as if speaking out what the three of them were all thinking. “You two see that crate over there?” Denis pointed towards the crate with the painted skull and bones. “I’ll shoot at that with an arrow. On fire, of course. Can you fix the arrow up for me, Miss Katrina?” He looked towards her as he pulled out an arrow from his quiver. Katrina took it from his hand without hesitation. 

“’Ey! What’re yo-… You two doin’?” A drunken man had snuck up behind the trio. Denis turned swiftly to face him while he placed a finger against his own lips. The drunkard looked at him with confusion, before his eyes widen. The drunken words of “Intruder! In-.. Intruder!” silenced the bandits and their gaze rests upon Katrina, Elrond, and Denis. Each and every single one of them grew a smile on their face and swiftly turned to begin opening up the crates to fetch the weapons from within. Much to their dismay, the crates weren’t exactly easy to open. This gave Katrina time to fix up the arrow and give it back to Denis. 

“Hurry, you need to shot it!” She quickly said as he shakily puts the arrow into his bow. Once he had it positioned, Katrina lights the arrow afire with her magic.

“Take cover!” Denis said with a hushed voice, and the arrow wipes through the arrow. The bandits had turned to watch the arrow sore through the air for it to only land into the wall above the dangerous crate, in which it remained stuck there. 

“You idiot! Why didn’t you hit it?!” Elrond whispered while the entire group bursts into laughter and finally succeeded in retrieving a weapon. The bandits which began to walk towards the three.

“I’m sorry! I’m not the best shot! Let me try again.” Katrina snatched another arrow from Denis as he spoke out, fixing it back up as it was before and lit it afire for him to shoot it at the crate. He once again missed, but the arrow had landed on another crate. This crate bursts into flames and Katrina gave an annoyed growl to Denis. 

“I hit it!” He cried out, only for Katrina to smack the back of his head. 

“No you didn’t! You mis-…” Her words were interrupted by an explosion. The fire has quickly advanced from crate to crate, eventually reaching the one with skulls and bones. The contents caused the explosion to sore through the entire group of bandits, either killing or injuring them severely. Luckily for the three, they were protected by the ruined walls but were thrown back from the brute force of the shockwave the eruption caused. 

“I told you I hit it!” Denis remarked once again. Katrina just rolled her eyes at him while she got up to approach the leader, who lay lifeless against the charred dirt. She searched through his pockets and pulled out the balled up paper with the address. 

“Careful, Katrina, one might try to grab you.” Elrond spoke out with a wince and Katrina heeds to his advice of treading carefully among the bandits that littered the ground to reach back to them. 

“We need to get out of here. The fire remaining is going to reach us. Miss Katrina, if you would give me the piece of paper.” Katrina did exactly this, handing the note over to Denis.  

“I’ll teleport us out. I’m sorry, father, but it’s quickest.” Elrond simply grumbles as the word of teleport, and Katrina, once finishing her charge, teleported the group back to the Sanctum. 

The trio landed in front of the arch at the Sanctum. Elrond, as usual, staggering a bit from the magic being used. Denis and Katrina remained standing still as if nothing happened. 

“Miss Katrina. Elrond. I will contact you two as soon as possible on the next and final part of our plan to find her husband. I believe we’re getting close to him. I assure you this, Miss Katrina.” 

Katrina gave Denis a soft smile, along with a nod. “Thank you, Denis. We’ll be waiting to hear from you then.” Denis gave the pair a bow before he swiftly turned to head towards Al Kharid. 

The following morning, Katrina retrieved a commorb call from Denis. He requested her and Elrond to meet him at the docks of Catherby. However, he made another request along with it. Denis required them to wear thug-like clothing. Katrina didn’t particularly mind the request or find it strange, neither did Elrond. In their newly found thug appearance, Katrina and Elrond arrived at the Catherby docks. They found Denis sitting on top of a crate while lazily relaxing against the wooden railing.

Once he noticed the pair, his bare hand slapped down onto the wooden lid of the crate. “Good morning Miss Katrina, Elrond. We’ll be delivering the weapons in these crates at Reginald’s fort at sea. There are three of them. But the last one down there, we’ll put our personal weapons inside. Any questions?” Denis looked between the two, who only shook their head quietly.

“Good. Grab a crate and follow me.” Denis hopped down with a thud against the wooden docks and swiftly picked up the crate he once sat on. With Katrina and Elrond following him with their own luggage, they arrived at a small boat. The crates rested at the back of the small boat, with Elrond and Katrina sitting at the nose. “I’m gonna be captain. When we get there, just listen to what I say.” Denis took a firm grasp of the captain’s wheel and the boat slowly took off to find their destination. 

After a good hour of sailing, Katrina finally noticed a fort lonely sitting atop of the gulf’s water. She could hear the waves beating against the stone walls of the fort. The sound seemed to distract her enough that she didn’t notice they were at the dock and she could hear Denis shouting at her to get her attention. “C’mon, lass!” Denis shouted to Katrina to get her to grab a crate, in which the other two gentlemen already took a hold of. On the docks, stood a couple of armed guards. Once the trio began to step off the boat with their crates, one of the guards stopped Denis by holding their spear to his chest. 

“Whoa, hang on there. Leave ‘em in the boat. The boss wants to see these two. We’ll take care of the cargo.” The guard gave a gesture to Katrina and Elrond, who both shared at the same nervous facial expressions.  

“Wait! About me?” Denis cried out  and the guard just smiles at him. 

“You will see. Follow me, lady and elf. The boss is eager.” Reluctantly, Katrina and her father followed the guard.

Once inside, two more guards walked alongside them, which only intensifies the tense situation. The small group walked down a dark corridor which seemed to last for decades. Eventually, the head guard approached a wooden double door. Once opened, the one dark hallway was flooded with bright light. So bright that Katrina had to cover her eyes until they properly adjusted. Once inside the newly found room, Katrina noticed it was a grand dining room. An elongated and decorated table filled the center with a crystal chandelier hanging overhead. Directly on the opposite side of the dining room from the group, high up against the wall rests a balcony. Reginald stood at the railing of the balcony with a smile on his face and his fingers gently tapping against the cane he held. 

“What a pleasant surprise! Miss Katrina and Sir Elrond.” Reginald shouted out in a happy tone.

Katrina gave him a bit of a snarl. “Where’s Holden?” 

“Holden? I am not quite sure what you are speaking of. I have not seen my son.” “

You’re a liar! Why would he be missing then?!” 

“Missing?” Reginald gave a gasp. “I did not know he was missing. Perhaps if I knew that, I would have been looking for him myself.” 

“I believe you are lying.” Elrond pitched in before Katrina could make another remark. 

“Why would I lie to the two of you? I only speak of the truth. But I have something that you will absolutely love!” 

“Oh god. What is it?” Katrina whispered underneath her breathe. Directly after her whispering, the door behind Reginald would swing open. A guard entered with a tied up and crying Denis.  

“You see, I have been investigating this boy’s work. He destroyed my weapon supply and nosing around my business. I interrupted some of the letters he received. Here! I’ll read them.” Reginald pulled out a stack of letters from the table beside him. He held one letter up directly in front of him, his voice loudly but clearly filled the room once more.

“’Dear Denis, 

I am writing to you on this day as I have an offer. My name is Holden Wallace, and I have seen your mutiple perforamnces in Ardougne's square. I found it quite splendid and I believe your servies shall help me greatly. If you are interested, meet me at bar south of the city. 

See you then,

Holden Wallace.’ 

Did you hear that? He hired him! Let’s see what the next letter says.  

‘Dear Denis,

I am glad you accepted the job. Now, it all begins here. I will need you take the wooden box delivered with this letter and give it to my wife, Katrina Avery. She’s at the school near Al Kharid. It’s not hard to miss. The crime scene is a matter I will take care of. If she asks any questions, simply tell her you don’t know. 

Until then, 

Holden Wallace.’” 

Katrina stood in silence as the first two letters were read aloud. It was clear on her face that she was upset. Reginald didn’t take long before he continued on with the third and fourth letter. 

“’Denis, 

I forgot an important part at the crime scene! Take this sword, and make up some story if you have too of how it arrived at the crime scene after her own investigation. Offer to go with her to Witchhaven to question the locals but do not enter the bar with her. Stay outside. I will tell you the rest of the instructions from there.

Holden Wallace.’

‘Denis, 

What the hell happened back there?! You realized I had to smack my own wife with a puddle and how close she was to discovering who I really am?  Regardless, do not slip up again. Meet me at the pub again in Ardougne for further instruction. 

Holden Wallace.’

That was the last letter, my dear Katrina. You look awfully upset.” 

“Of course I am upset.” Katrina said. There was short moment of silence before a loud banging in the background is heard. Elrond’s ears would twitch from the noises. 

“Katrina, what was that?” Elrond softly whispered to her direction. 

“I don’t know.” Katrina responded, only for Reginald to begin talking over her own whispers. 

“Denis, my boy, I hope you realize what your fate is to be for killing my own men.”

“Please! I didn’t do anything wrong!” Denis cried out before Reginald got an annoyed look from Denis’ desperate and high pitched voice. Reginald grabbed him from the back his shirt and hurled him over the balcony. A sickening crack echoed through the dining room from Denis’ impact on the table and he lay lifeless as he rolled onto the floor. Katrina and Elrond stood with their mouths open, with shock.  

“What’s with the look for? He was us-…” Reginald was interpreted from the loud bang again. “For the sake of the gods, go see who is making that noise!” Reginald ordered for his guard to find the source of the noise. The moment the guard tried to open the door, it smacked against him and, thus, caused him to fall over the railing and onto the ground. The open doorway remained dark with shadows, before a clothed and hooded figure stepped out. A gloved hand was raised up to remove the hood and revealed long, strawberry-blonde hair that reached the figure’s shoulders. 

“Holden.” Elrond whispered softly and Katrina only took with yet another shocked look. 

“I finally fou-… Katrina? Elrond? Wh-… What are you two doing here? You’re supposed to be in Lumbridge swamps! Denis-…” Holden spoke out with an utterly confused look.

“I should be asking you that question, Holden! What is going on?” Katrina shouted with an agitated voice. 

“Guards!” Reginald boomed out with his voice, clearly interrupting.

“Kill them!” Reginald pointed to Katrina and Elrond while Holden began to charge magic in his hands. While Holden and his father began a magic duel between each other, the multiple guards within the dining room began to circle around Katrina and Elrond. 

“Disarm them and steal their weapons.” Elrond whispered to Katrina, before each of them became distracted with the attacking guards. Katrina managed to swiftly disarm one from his sword and use it to slit his throat.

“Father! Here!” Katrina tossed the hilt of the sword she retrieved to Elrond, who caught it with grace and swiftly killed the guard that tried to attack him. 

“Don’t you need it?” Elrond inquired. 

“No. I have this.” Katrina pulled out a secretly hidden dagger from her knee-high boots. Elrond just smiled at her before his attention turned to a group of three guards approaching them.

They started off with facing six guards, with four only left. Katrina dealt with the fourth one quickly when she grounded him and knocked him unconscious with the hilt of her dagger. She didn’t exactly like killing everything that attacked her.

Meanwhile, Elrond was struggling fending off the three who approached him. He managed to block two of the incoming attacks and returned with a fatal counter. However, the third attacker landed a hit within his chest. The severe injury he received made him stagger away. 

“Katrina!” He desperately shouted out and she looked over. Her eyes flared a bit with anger once she noticed the situation. The guard was distracted on trying to finish Elrond, but she quickly put an end to that she grounded him to his knees and broke his neck.  

“Father! Please-… Stay with me.” Katrina said as she slides down onto her knees to sit beside her father, who was now laying on the tiled floor. 

“Katrina-… I will try my best, you know that. But, in case I don’t… I want you to know that you’re the best daughter any father would ask for.” Elrond smiles at her, whose hand reached up to brush Katrina’s cheek to wipe away a tear that had fallen.  

From above, on the balcony, Holden was gaining ground on Reginald within the magic duel. Glancing past Reginald for a moment, Holden realized Elrond was severely injured and proceeded to immobilize Reginald by crippling both of his legs. He then swiftly ran down to the lower level to meet Elrond and Katrina. 

“We need to take him to the Sanctum. Katrina. Teleport us out while I stabilize him. But wait for my signal first.” Holden spoke out in a firm tone. Katrina and Elrond didn’t particularly like the fact he suddenly took charge, but they knew it would only help Elrond’s case. Holden used the blood magic he learned to stop the bleeding of Elrond’s chest, while Katrina charged the teleport spell. 

“Okay. Kat. Now.” Holden said, while Katrina released the teleportation spell over them and they arrived at the first arch of the Sanctum. 

“I’ll get his legs, if you can get his arms.” Katrina was the first to speak after their arrival. 

“I can’t let go of his spell though.”

“I can’t carry him by myself though!” Katrina shouted in an annoyed voice. 

“We wouldn’t be in this situation if you just stayed at home, Holden.” Elrond quickly pitched in before Holden gave in to help Katrina. Elrond winced in pain as he’s carried to the infirmary and laid down on one of the uncomfortable medical beds. From there, Holden and Katrina worked swiftly to patch up Elrond’s chest to the best of their ability. 

“If you guys just follow what Denis said, he wouldn’t have died either, and you wouldn’t be in this situation.” Holden finally said in response to Elrond’s statement from earlier. 

“That’s what we did, is follow his instructions! Why the hell were you there anyway?” Katrina responded. 

“I was there to kill my father.” Holden calmly said as he looked to Katrina. 

“What? That’s why? And you couldn’t even bother to simply tell me that? No, you instead let us believe you were kidnapped, possibly dead. You’re much more satisfied with me being completely upset and heart broken?”

“I didn’t tell you to protect you. You would have gotten yourself killed if I told you, Katrina.” 

“That’s it, you think I’d just run in and get myself killed? You’re giving me the impression that you don’t trust me at all then, that I won’t listen to what you have to say. I feel utterly betrayed and hurt from this. What if you were the one who got killed?” 

“I nearly did die, Katrina. Did you think that blood in witchaven was fake? It wasn’t, it was my own blood. If it weren’t for the seers nearby to heal me, then I would have died. Reginald and his men ambushed me in that forest.” 

“Why were you in that forest anyway?” Elrond finally pitched in.

“Business.” Holden simply replied. 

“If you did die, then I wouldn’t have known anything. And yet you still think it’s okay to just lie to us.” 

“I did it to protect you. But I have things to do.” Holden turned swiftly on his heels, only to be stopped from Katrina blurting out. 

“Where the hell are you going? Why don’t you tell me anything at all, Holden? I’m really tired of being left in the shadows.” 

“I’m going to take care of Denis. He didn’t deserve the fate he received.” Holden then left quickly before anyone had a chance to respond. Katrina stood by Elrond’s bed with an upset expression. 

“I’m tired of that boy, Katrina.” Elrond said with a pained voice. 

“I just can’t believe he’ll do that. I’m about done with him. I can’t stand being alone and away from him for months and then find that he’s been taken or dead, or worse, lied too directly. I’ll see you in the morning, father.” 

“I’m sorry Katrina. For everything that’s happened.” Katrina just nods in return to her father. She walks off towards her bedroom, in which she laid awake for hours pondering over the events she went through. Katrina believed it’ll be difficult to forgive Holden over this event, unlike she has been able to do so in the previous ones. This one specific event, she believed, was just too much for her to handle.  

A Witch's Curse

Although the following short story is about Katrina, please keep in mind that it is viewed from another character's perspective; this is only to provide some insight of how other's react and feel during her dire situations.

It was another cold winter evening when Faramel returned from his errands and discovered Katrina missing. It was the third time that month Katrina left during his absence; each time was always the same reason. The curse his wife received months ago was only causing her greater pain as each day passes; both emotionally and physically. It greatly concerns him but Faramel hadn’t seen the house in such a mess before. Furniture was turned over and belongings scattered across the floor as if a stampede of bulls ran through the house. It must have been really bad for her to cause this mess, Faramel thought. After searching through the home, he soon discovered the backdoor was wide open with hurried footprints trailing off into the distance. I just hope she is alright, Faramel thought as he followed the tracks to search for Katrina.

The trail, though with some droplets of blood, eventually leads Faramel to a clearing. Within the center of the glade, he saw Katrina kneeling with her arms wrapped around her midsection. As he began to approach her, the crisp sound of crunched snow caught Katrina’s attention.

“Love? Is that you?” she inquired without diverting her eyes from the snow.

“Only me,” he responded.

“What are you doing here?”

“I was looking for you. I got worried when you weren’t in the house. Did it happen again?”

Katrina briefly went silent and her head tilted downward. “It did.”

“Is there anything that I ca-…“ Faramel’s words were brutally cut off when Katrina abruptly screamed. The ear piercing sound froze Faramel in place and his face grew pale as his wife whip around in place, as if she were trying to escape someone’s grasp. “Katrina!” Faramel shouted and as he rushed to his wife, claw-like marks covered her coat and exposed skin. 

“I’m sorry…” Katrina painfully whispered. “I wish you didn’t have to see that.”

Faramel sat down beside Katrina and he held her hands to comfort her. “It’s okay. It really is. I’m here for you.”

“I want it gone. I’m tired of these… Demons attacking me. You don’t see them… Do you?”

“I know how you feel but I see only you. Have you found anything to get rid of it?” 

“I have this,” Katrina said and pulled out a piece of paper from her coat. “I hope it’ll work unlike everything else. But when I was going to show you, my curse acted up again. I saw the worst thing possible. Like it knew what I was doing. That’s why I was gone and the house in such a mess. I was trying to fight and get away from it…”

Faramel felt a brief sharp pain in his chest. It hurt him to see his wife in extreme pain and distress. Through his best struggles to dismiss his emotions, he took the paper from Katrina and studied the page. It described the multiple methods of removing a curse and one method was hurriedly circled in black ink. “Kill whoever put this on you?”

“Yes. If I understand it right, whoever created the curse is the only key through removing it. Meaning we try to negotiate with the witch to remove it or kill her. So either way, the curse will be lifted,” Katrina explained.

“It makes sense. But where do we find her?” 

“There’s a rotten house several miles from here.” 

 “Are you sure she lives there?”

“Hundred percent sure. But we should go, before the curse acts up again.”

With the sun slowly descending to the horizon and night soon approaching, Faramel was the first to spot the house. Something doesn't seem right, Faramel thought, it's like no one lives here. He approached the door of the assumed witch’s cottage and pushed it open. Inside he saw a woman hunched over a ritual circle and she was at the ending of a malediction. As the woman finished, she gazed upon Faramel with a snicker.

“Faramel!” Katrina shrieked out and Faramel turned to find Katrina with a terrified expression. However, she appeared unharmed.

“Be calm, little girl,” the witch croaked as she pushed past Faramel to step outside.

“What do you want with her?” Faramel demanded, hurriedly following the witch as she approached Katrina.

“What I want is the girl’s life. It’ll be perfect to complete my ritual!” 

 “Take mine instead. Please. Katrina doesn’t deserve this.” Faramel desperately said. The witch pleasantly smiled at the offer. Silent words past between the spouses as they stared at each other from their distance; both knowing the result of their situation. Faramel stood in front of the witch as she lifted her wand and began chanting. Faramel thought she’d simply kill him on the spot but she instead aroused the curse within Katrina. Fatal claw-like marks began appearing across Katrina’s skin as she screamed in agony; a sign that the curse was truly meant to kill her. 

“Do me a favor, boy, and fetch me when the girl is dead.” the witch said and turned to disappear into the cottage. 

Negotiating didn't work, Faramel thought, that means I have to kill that blasted witch. Without hesitation, Faramel pivoted to charge into the foul dwelling. Upon entering the home, he was met with a bundle of sharp roots that tangled his feet into place. 

“Are you dumb, son?” the witch retorted to his intrusion, “Oh well, I’ll just sacrifice you too.” 

She made one fatal mistake, Faramel observed and used his free hands to withdraw his cutting knife. By this time, the witch used her magic to launch a sharp root at the center of Faramel’s chest. He took advantage of the brief opportunity he had to throw his knife at the witch before he used his forearms to deflect her spell. His skin was badly damaged but it did not stop him to remove the tangled roots to free his feet. He then cautiously approached the woman and, to his surprise, the knife landed home in the witch’s skull.

Good, she's de-... Katrina! Faramel thought and rushed outside to his wife, leaving the witch’s corpse behind. Katrina was flat on her back with blood stained snow around her beaten body. Please don't be dead, please don't be dead, Faramel repeated to himself as he dropped to his knees beside her. Katrina appeared to not be breathing. What have I done? I should have been here beside her... To comfort her, during her last breathes. But I couldn't-... I couldn't save her fast enough. I'm sorry, Katrina... I'm so very sorry for failing you. It's all my fault, you never deserved this, Faramel reflected with a broken heart and tears willed up in his eyes. He gently grabbed onto Katrina’s body and hugged onto her for many moments.

“F-… Faramel?” Katrina coughed out after regaining consciousness.

“Kat? Y-You’re alive?” Faramel released Katrina with a relieved smile and she weakly nodded. “But I thought you were…”

“Dead? No-… I’m still here. Did you-… Did you kill her?”

“I did… Is it gone? The curse?” He inquired with a cracked voice.

Katrina faintly smiled. “It is. I can feel it. My spirit feels lighter and I don’t see monsters anymore.” 

I've realized she can overcome anything. That means I can too, we both can. I swear on my very existance to never let her be hurt like this again. Ever, Faramel thought, before he tightly embraced his beloved wife.